The year 2019 was an interesting time for IPOs. From Aramco’s blockbuster debut making it the largest public offering in the world to the spectacular debacle of WeWork and the embarrassing fall of Uber, the market witnessed quite a roller coaster ride.
And 2020 promises to be even better. High IPO levels is expected to rebound once more favorable market conditions return with the advancement in US-China trade deals and a clear perspective of where Brexit is heading. From major market movers to interesting unicorns – several IPOs are in the pipeline for this year.
Businesslive Middle East brings to you a list of most exciting IPOs to watch out for in 2020:
Palantir Technologies
Big data company
Current valuation: $26 billion
The controversial and most talk-about data-analytics firm could end up being the largest public offerings of 2020. Founded by Peter Thiel, Nathan Gettings, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen, and Alex Karp in 2004, the existence of the US-based company remained mostly under the wraps. The company has worked closely with US government and international agencies, providing big data tools. Some of its customers include US Army, CIA, NSA, FBI Marine Corps, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Chase, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organization and Allies.
AirBnb
Online rental platform for homestays, hotels, accommodations
Current valuation: $35 Billion
When the popular home-rental platform Airbnb announced its “Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Company” through direct listing, the market-watchers sort of went crazy. The news of the company’s sponsorship of the upcoming Olympics, has further bolstered its image, putting it in the list of most-anticipated IPOs of 2020. While some predict it maybe another Uber IPO in the making, others claim it will be the “year of AirBnb”. Airbnb was launched in 2008 and has raised $4.4 billion in 15 venture capital funding rounds, making it the fourth-largest US unicorn, according to Crunchbase.
Gitlab
Code-sharing software developer
Current valuation: $2.75 billion
Here’s another unicorn the industry will be closely watching in 2020. An open core company, GitLab’s software is used by over 100,000 organizations and has an active community of more than 2200 contributors. CEO Sid Sijbrandij has already set a date for its direct listing: November 18, 2020.
Ant Financial
Online payment services provider
Current valuation: $150 billion
A affiliate firm of leading Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group, Ant Financial is the highest valued FinTech firm in the world. The company operates world’s largest mobile and online payments platform Alipay and the largest money-market fund Yu’e Bao. While the rumors of an IPO in 2020 has been doing the rounds in the market, the company hasn’t provided an official timeline. The company has raised $22 billion is four rounds of funding over the years. The company reported has 1.2 billion users and is targeting a customer base of 2 billion users.
DiDi Chuxing
Mobile transportation platform
Current valuation: $56 billion
China’s ride hailing giant has a reported user base of 550 million and one of the most valuable unicorn. In 2015, Didi merged with rival Kuaidi Dache and acquired Uber China in 2016. No timeline has been shared by the company, but insiders suggest an IPO may be floated in 2020. The company raised $21.2 Billion in
O2
Telecommunications company
Estimated Market Cap: £10 billion
Spanish multinational Telefónica is the second-largest telecommunications services provider in the United Kingdom. The fate of O2’s highly-anticipated IPO will be decided once Brexit clears up.
Dangote Cement
Cement Manufacturing Company
Market Valuation: $10.9 Billion
All eyes are set on the 2020 IPO of Nigeria’s biggest listed firm Dangote Cement, owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote. Talks of the company listing London is likely to take place next year as the company seeks to expand in new markets.
Asda
British supermarket retailer
Estimated Valuation: £8 billion
Owned by American multinational retail giant Walmart Inc., Asda management claim that they are in no rush to bring out an IPO. But insiders, 2020 may see Asda coming out with a public offering. The company, founded in 1949, was acquired by Walmart in 1999 for 6.7 billion pounds.
Here are ten other companies who’s IPOs investors need to watch out in 2020:
1. Indian food-delivery startup Deliveroo (estimated market cap: £3.2 billion)
2. TowerCo, the wireless tower company owned by Telecommunication firm Vodafone (Estimated Market cap: €20 billion)
3. India’s biggest restaurant chain Barbeque Nation Hospitality (estimated market cap: ₹24 billion)
4. US-based Hemptown Organics Corp
5. Retail company Instacart (Market Valuation $7.87 billion)
6. Delivery company Postmates (Estimated valuation $1.85 billion)
7. Trading app Robinhood (Current valuation: $7.6 billion)
8. Mattress seller Casper (Market Valuation $1.1 billion)
9. Payments company Stripe (Market valuation $35 billion)
10. Tata’s Jaguar Land Rover (Estimated market cap: £2 billion)
