"After a slight summer pause in August, the strength in September made it the busiest Q3 in over 20 years. Q4 is expected to be filled with holiday cheer as the pipeline is ripe with companies looking to make their public debut before year end."

Craig Clay, President, Donnelley Financial Solutions

Congratulations to the 58 issuers who made their public debut in September via an IPO raising ~$16.5 billion including our clients:

Download our case study to understand how Venue responded to Abcam virtual data room requirements.

“As an agile, audacious and innovative company, we needed a provider that could match our scope and help us reach our ambitious goal of going public within 4 months. DFIN delivered brilliantly and was there to ensure a seamless process from start to finish.” 

MARC PERKINS General Counsel and Company Secretary at Abcam

New partnership equips companies with SOX compliance, board management and financial reporting technology tools to successfully go public

"Public debuts via DeSPACs surpassed traditional IPOs in August, as the promise of the SPAC life cycle delivered 27 newly listed companies. The pipeline is ripe as the SPAC universe builds to record numbers and the traditional IPO pipeline is filled with a backlog of notable companies."

Craig Clay, President, Donnelley Financial Solutions

Congratulations to the 45 issuers who made their public debut in August via an IPO raising ~$6.3 billion including our clients:

SPAC vs. Traditional IPO

As of December 2020, more than 200 companies had used a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company), to go public, rather than the more traditional IPO (initial public offering) method. SPACs continue to dominate business headlines, with SPAC transactions accounting for some $170 billion in equity thus far in 2021.

Will 2021 Be a Good Year for U.S. Markets?

Despite the pandemic, 2020 was the biggest year for IPOs since 2014, and I am confident that the positive trend will continue for IPO stocks in 2021. It’s already getting off to a fast start with the Wall Street debut of mobile game developer Playtika Holding (PLTK), which benefits from strong videogame demand and a popular lineup of titles like Slotmania, Bingo Blitz, and Board Kings.

Whether you're a startup in search of capital to expand, a biotech in need of cash to advance their drugs through clinical development, or a portfolio company with investors looking to exit, you have choices. To determine what's best for your business and figure out how to choose an exit strategy, read on.

Business Exit Strategy Types

There are three common exit strategies available for private companies: an initial public offering or IPO, a direct listing, and a reverse merger with SPAC, commonly known as de-SPAC.

Investment Outlook: 2021 Looks Bright – a blog by Craig Clay, President of Global Capital Markets, DFIN

Despite the pandemic, 2020 was the biggest year for IPOs since 2014, and I am confident that the positive trend will continue in 2021.

SPAC Transactions

The numbers alone speak volumes. As of mid-September 2020, 95 SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies) with a valuation of approximately $35 billion had priced year to date, shattering “all previous records,” said Craig Clay, President of Global Capital Markets for Donnelley Financial Solutions. In contrast, he said, for the full year of 2019, 59 SPACs had priced, and even this represented a sizeable increase over 46 in 2018 and 34 in 2017.