In 2026, will be the super year for new IPOs? From OpenAI to "American Two Houses", trillion-dollar "private equity stocks" waiting to go public!

Industry players are urging private equity firms to continue driving the recovery of the initial public offering (IPO) market in 2026, as many companies supported by private equity are lining up for listing after a strong momentum in the IPO market in 2025. In 2025, private equity-supported IPOs reached their highest levels since 2021 in the third quarter. Investment bankers hope this trend can continue to help private equity firms deal with their long-standing asset backlog. IPO transactions are crowded, waiting for financing breakthroughs In the past few years, leveraged buyout companies have been using various means to extend the holding period of assets, while IPO investors have mostly been waiting for the effects of frenzied trading during the pandemic to fade. Now, a series of large companies from industrial to technology sectors are set to go public in 2026. Investment banks expect private equity firms to list a large number of their companies to break the current downturn in IPO activity since the pandemic and reinvigorate it. These potential deals are spread globally. For instance, Jio Platforms Ltd., a wireless communication company owned by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, which received investment support from multiple companies including KKR & Co. five years ago, could be valued up to $170 billion if it lists. In Europe and the United States, companies supported by acquisition firms will play a significant role in the IPO market in 2026, including TK Elevator supported by Advent and Cinven, Visma software company under HgCapital, Copeland under Blackstone, and ABReworld under EQT. Data shows that a total of $146 billion was raised in the first-time public offerings this year (excluding shell companies). However, this figure is still below the average level of the past decade before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the large scale of some potential first-time public offerings supported by private equity, if the market cooperates, the mass listing of these companies could potentially surpass the fundraising total once again. Kevin Foley, head of global capital markets at J.P. Morgan, said in an interview, "It is impossible for the financing scale to return to the unprecedented level of the past five years if the market is strong but private equity investment portfolios do not participate." However, investors must overlook the uneven performance of private equity-backed IPOs in 2025. Verisure Plc, supported by Hellman & Friedman, was among the few bright spots this year, with its stock price rising 9% since its listing in Stockholm in October last year. Hexaware Technologies Ltd., listed in Mumbai under Carlyle, also saw a slight increase in its stock price. The situation in the U.S. market is more dire, with SailPoint Inc., supported by Thoma Bravo, being down 16% since February, and NIQ Global Intelligence Plc, under Advent, plummeting 26% since the end of July, causing significant losses for investors. In recent years, encouraging private equity firms to push companies to go public has not been easy, as investors are concerned about higher debt burdens and valuation expectations. According to PitchBook data, as of December 3, only 137 private equity-backed IPO companies went public in 2025, potentially making it one of the years with the fewest IPOs since 2010. However, in recent months, matchmakers have been actively pitching new projects to companies and their operating companies. Giants like Blackstone have announced that their IPO plans are the largest since 2021. Eddie Molloy, co-head of global equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley, said, "Sponsors must eventually enter the IPO market in 2026." He said, based on the discussions between companies and potential IPO underwriters in the fall and early winter of this year, it will be a significant year for private equity-backed companies. Although the market continues to rise, the private equity-backed trading frenzy has not materialized as expected in recent years. Despite historically low-interest rates, which are still higher than pre-pandemic levels, this is likely to be a key factor affecting whether investors and asset owners can reach a consensus on valuations. Foley of J.P. Morgan said, "It is not yet clear whether 2026 will be a turning point. Ultimately, it depends on valuationswhether private equity firms believe they have already received their full return on investment and where they stand in their investment lifecycle." In recent months, private equity firms have been using various means to return capital to investors (limited partners). One way is to sell assets to so-called continuation funds, allowing investors to sell their stakes without fully exiting immediately. Douglas Adams, head of global corporate mergers and acquisitions at Citigroup, said, "Private equity sponsors now have more ways to return capital to limited partners than in the past." He cited examples of follow-up financing and pre-IPO financing. All these measures allow them to have more flexibility in deciding when to go public. Adams believes that going public is the ultimate goal, "It's just a matter of time, not a foregone conclusion, as these companies' scale and influence are not to be underestimated." In the European region, further growth in IPOs from private equity firms will be closely watched, given that companies like SMG Swiss Marketplace Group under General Atlantic have a high proportion of large IPO listings, and the IPO size in the region lags behind other regions globally. John Kolz, head of global corporate mergers and acquisitions at Barclays Bank, said of Europe, "While the number of transactions is still relatively small, overall, transaction activity is gradually increasing. All the situations we talk about in the U.S., to some extent also have similar performances in Europe." The region also faces the migration of companies to U.S. stock exchanges as these companies seek higher valuations. Noteworthy transactions While expectations remain high for private equity-backed IPOs, it appears that these transactions may be overshadowed by the upcoming listings of U.S. mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, discussions currently taking place in Washington. In addition, investors are anticipating the $5 billion U.S. closed-end fund listing planned by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. Furthermore, popular AI concept tech companies like OpenAI and Databricks are also expected to eventually go public. A series of massive private financing rounds have pushed their valuations far beyond those of the most sought-after companies listed in 2025. On the other hand, unlike private equity firms that need to return capital to limited partners, billion-dollar startups seem to be only limited by whether investors will continue to provide them with billions of dollars in funding through private financing. Foley of J.P. Morgan said, "It is unclear what the upper limit of the private market is, but we believe that the public market can handle much larger sizes." While public market investors may feel they cannot access investments in the hottest companies, companies in popular fields such as digital assets or artificial intelligence infrastructure have been eager to fill this gap in recent months. According to data, Asia leads in the number of IPOs. Therefore, investors in other regions should not limit themselves to local markets but should look to broader markets for investment opportunities. Arnaud Blanchard, co-head of global corporate mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley, said, "Many factors are driving the return of market activity, including attractive stock valuations, inflows of international capital from the Asian region, and the pace of innovation in the region, especially in fields like technology and healthcare."