The IFR US ECM Roundtable will take place on the afternoon of Thursday October 24 2019 in New York.

Now in its eighth year, the event will bring together a panel of the most senior ECM practitioners to assess the current state of the market, discuss the latest trends and developments and provide an outlook for the remainder of the year and beyond. Topics to be discussed will include:

State of the IPO market

• At $32.6bn YTD, IPO volumes are at a $50bn run-rate for the year and are trending toward a five-year high.

• Unicorns have figured prominently among this year’s new listings, with 30-plus unicorns debuting this year versus 20 in all of 2018 and 13 in 2017.

• Venture-backed IPO issuance (48 deals totaling $20.9bn YTD) stands at seven-year high and PE-backed IPOs (11, $5.7bn) at post-crisis low.

• VC-backed IPOs are larger than ever and more highly valued at the time of their IPOs.

• IPO returns have been very good (notwithstanding the Uber and Lyft misfires), easily outperforming the broader market (which is strong too), but are these gains sustainable?

• More than 300 unicorns remain private with a combined valuation of $1.2trn.

Which industries/companies are transforming the economy?

• Pinterest, Lyft and Uber take investment case to the public markets to varying success.

• Pinterest takes down-round amid operational overhaul but delivers good gains

• Lyft and Uber crash on debut as private-funding overhang overwhelms public market bid, raising questions about investor lock-up agreements for companies that have raised large sums before they go public.

• Beyond Meat soars beyond belief, surging 160% on debut in May and 500%-plus in the aftermarket, valuing the fake meat maker at nearly $10bn. How did investment banks contend with investor food fight at the IPO and manage the $600m follow-on offering just two months later.

• Zoom Communications, the video collaboration platform, drew one of the highest-quality books of demand for its IPO. Cybersecurity also remains a durable investment theme with strong demand for Crowdstrike, Tufin Software

• WeWork, the office-sharing provider, is poised to test investor receptivity for real estate-as-a-service with its IPO in September, and Peloton with an offering as it looks to redefine fitness as a category.

Direct listings as alternative to the traditional IPO: threat or opportunity?

• Slack, the work collaboration software provider, found success with its direct listing in May. After Spotify last year, what went right and are others likely to follow? What role do investment banks, stock exchanges play in the process?

• iHeartMedia also listed directly, a more traditional candidate given its recent emergence from bankruptcy protection.

SPACs: financial engineering in a bull market or durable funding vehicle?

• SPACs raise $9.1bn YTD, trending toward third consecutive year of $10bn-plus issuance. Financial engineering or new form of permanent capital?

• With the funding spree, there are 75 SPACs with $18.2bn of capital looking for acquisitions.

• Virgin Galactic $1.3bn merger with Social Hedosophia SPAC provides lift to asset class.

• OneSpaWorld gains alternative liquidity for sponsor Catterton through $925m acquisition by Haymaker Acquisition SPAC, allowing hedge funds and long-only funds to roll over into publicly traded company.

• Impact of Nasdaq’s new listing requirements on SPACs?

Market outlook.

• How will the IPO market fare in an election year and with many forecasting a recession? Particularly politically sensitive sectors like healthcare that make up a huge amount of deal flow?

• Living in low-interest rate world. What impact do low interest rates, flat/inverted yield curve have on ECM?

The Roundtable will be chaired by IFR’s US Editor, Stephen Lacey and details of the panel line-up will be posted here shortly.

The event is free to attend, but you must be registered. To secure your place, please click on the green ‘register’ button on this page.