It’s still a good time to go public.
Twenty-eight venture-backed companies completed initial public offerings during the second quarter, raising $4.9 billion. That was a 45 percent increase in dollars raised compared to the previous quarter, according to an analysis by Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association. It was the fifth consecutive quarter of more than 20 IPOs at venture-backed companies.
While the IPO market remained strong, M&A transactions slowed.
For the second quarter, 97 venture-backed M&A deals were reported, 33 of which had an aggregate deal value of $3.3 billion. This was a 56 percent decrease in disclosed value from the first quarter of this year when 111 deals were completed. Average deal size during the second quarter totaled $98.6 million, the lowest average deal size since the first quarter of 2013.
“With the various stock indices continuing to reach new heights, the environment for IPOs remains quite favorable—welcome news for venture-backed companies that have been waiting for the opportunity to go public for several years now,” said Bobby Franklin, President and CEO of NVCA. “Led by the biotechnology sector, life sciences companies appear to be the primary beneficiaries from the favorable IPO environment, with more than half of the offerings during the quarter coming from life sciences companies, marking the fifth consecutive quarter for double digit listings. It’s good to see continued investor interest in venture-backed companies, especially with there being such a backlog of great companies wanting to go public.”
In the Seattle area, pet health insurance company Trupanion and biotechnology company Immune Design recently filed to go public. Bothell biotech Alder BioPharma priced its public offering earlier this year at $10 per share, and now boasts a market value of more than $500 million trading at just over $17 per share.
Here’s a look at the M&A and IPO chart from Thomson Reuters and the NVCA.
