10 Largest IPO Valuations in History

Curious to know which the 10 largest IPO valuations in history were? What was their domicile, their businesses or their valuations?

Entrepreneurs raising money from the capital market by offering equity is one the main pillars of modern day capitalism as we know it. Initial Public Offering (IPO) besides raising capital also increase a company’s reputation and credibility as it brings regulatory scrutiny about its operations and financials. Different countries have different laws governing an IPO. For example, India allows retail investors to subscribe to an IPO while the USA equity markets generally sell equity to institutional investors only. With the growing size of the world economy, the size of the IPOs has also become larger in recent years frequently topping the 10 billion dollar mark, with the largest IPO raising an astonishing $25 billion.

It was surprising to see three of the top four IPOs being those of Chinese companies, each breaking the record IPO valuation of its predecessor. While Visa Inc. was the largest US company to rank on the list, Facebook Inc was the second largest at $16 billion. You can also find which the 20 biggest IPOs in US history were. Most of the largest IPO valuations in history in our list consist of Japanese, Chinese and American names only. This makes sense as these countries are the three biggest economies in the world and you would expect companies from these places to be the biggest in the world as well. Another common threat running through these large IPOs was the sameness in the sectors these belonged to.  Banks, Telecom and Internet companies dominated the list with a couple from other sectors such as payment processing and utilities.

In the list below, we have compiled the largest IPO valuations in history. The largest IPO was that of Alibaba Group Holding in 2014. Though many large IPOs were anticipated in 2015 and 2016, they did not materialize. Snapchat is being rumored to be one of the largest IPOs in the coming year.

10. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (ADR) (NYSE:NTT) (1987): $15.3 billion

Ranking tenth on our list of the largest IPO valuations in history is Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp raising $15.3 billion in February 1987. It is a Japanese telecommunications company with a market capitalization of $94 billion and engages in providing mobile and data communication services regionally and internationally. NTT is one of the oldest and largest IPOs of all times globally.

9. General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) (2010): $15.77 billion

Next on our list of the largest IPO valuations in history is General Motors. The automaker raised a whopping $15.77 billion in its initial public offer. The company had filed for bankruptcy in 2009 as the aftermath of the great financial crisis, but was later bailed out by the Obama administration. The company has a market cap value of $56 billion and is one of the largest American multinational companies with production in 37 countries under twelve brands.

8. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) (2012): $16 billion

Facebook’s IPO was one of the largest IPOs in the internet and technology history. At the time of IPO, Facebook had 845 million active monthly users. The company was listed on NASDAQ on May 18, 2012 and the fist day of trading was marked by software malfunction that caused delays in trading. The social media giant faced criticism post its IPO because of its lackluster stock performance and slow mobile performance. But Facebook showed the world that it could achieve strong mobile revenue within just 18 months. Facebook’s IPO also marked the change in status of NASDAQ as the sole host of tech IPOs. Following Facebook’s IPO, many tech giants like Twitter, GrubHub and Fitbit chose to list on NYSE.

7. Enel S.p.A (1999): $16.5 billion

The Italian multinational energy company manufactures and distributes electricity and gas in Europe and Latin America. The energy group raised $16.5 billion in a 1999 IPO and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and in Europe. However, the stock was delisted from the NYSE in 2007 owing to low trading volumes.

6. AIA Group Ltd (2010): $17.8 billion

AIA Group Ltd. is the Asian subsidiary of American International Group (NYSE:AIG). AIA raised $17.8 billion in its Hong Kong IPO in October 2010. Part of the proceeds of the IPO was used to pay back the bailout amount which AIG had received from the US government. Having a presence in 18 markets in the Asia-Pacific region, AIA is the largest Asian life insurance group. It is the third largest Hong Kong-based IPO so far.

5. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) (2008): $17.86 billion

Visa Inc owns and operates one of the largest payments processing networks in the world providing its services in over 200 countries. Visa Inc is the largest IPO amongst US based companies. The company got listed on New York Stock Exchange on March 18, 2008 and raised $17.86 billion. Another notable thing about this IPO was its timing. The company ignored the bearish sentiment during the great recession in the U.S. and went ahead with its IPO.

4. NTT DoCoMo (1998): $18 billion

The Japanese mobile phone operator went public in 1998 and raised around $18 billion in its initial public offering. This made the cellular giant’s IPO the largest in Japanese history at that time. DoCoMo was a spin off from Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT).

The top three IPOs having the highest valuations so far today were all Chinese companies. Keep reading to find out who they are.

3. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (2006): $21.9 billion

ICBC Bank is one of the four largest state-owned commercial banks in China. It was first on the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world’s biggest public companies and trades on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Becoming the world’s largest seller of initial shares, ICBC bank raised a total of $21.9 billion (after a greenshoe option was exercised).

2. Agricultural Bank Of China Ltd. (2010): $22 billion

Agricultural Bank Of China Ltd. is also one of the four largest banks in China, listed on both Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchange. The bank had raised a total of $22 billion in August 2010. It was the largest IPOs of all times, until Alibaba Group’s IPO two years later.

1. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) (2014): $25 billion

The most talked about and the largest IPO valuations in history were the one of Alibaba Group Holding. The e-commerce giant of China got listed on NYSE on September 18, 2014 and raised $21.8 billion. Four days later, underwriters exercised a greenshoe option to sell more shares, bringing the total IPO to $25 billion. The name Ali Baba was inspired from the Arabian literature One Thousand and One Nights.

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