Upcoming IPO: Most Anticipated IPOs of 2019 You Must Know

2019 might turn out to be a big year of IPO for major new media and tech companies.

2018 was a big year for Initial Public Offerings (IPO), with a little over 173 companies going public, generating total revenues of $45.7 billion. Analysts predict that 2019 would be even bigger – with forecasts that would break the $100 billion mark.

Not surprisingly, most of these companies are some of the biggest names in the tech space. These firms hinted earlier this year of their intentions to go public in 2019.

Here are some of the upcoming IPOs to watch out for:

Palantir

PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel is currently in talks with Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse to consider an IPO for his highly secretive data mining company, Palantir.

Known for providing tech and data technology to companies and governments, it’s forecasted to rake in $750 million in sales this year.

It hopes to raise funding of up to $41 billion through the IPO slated for late 2019, almost double of its last funding round back in 2015, where it raised $20 billion.

Uber

One of the most valuable, if not controversial, private companies in the world, the revolutionary ride hailing app is buyouts and acquisitions in the latter half of 2019. Part of it is rebranding its scandal riddled image and restructuring its leadership to regain public and investor trust, led by newly appointed CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse has valued Uber to be as much as $120 billion – more than the valuations of Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Ford combined – and could be slated as one of the biggest IPOs ever

Despite this, it has a few issues to solve first – primary of which is finding a suitable CFO, which it hasn’t had since 2015, to work with Uber’s complicated web of 129 active investors, which includes big names as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Baidu Inc. and Softbank Group Corp, which is its biggest shareholder at 15%.

Lyft

The second largest ride hailing app Lyft is also buyouts and acquisitions move to go public, and it may beat rival Uber to the punch. Valuation estimates are expected to exceed $15 billion, and the company is already in talks with JP Morgan Chase to underwrite its IPO.

Airbnb

The disruptive, multi-billion-dollar home sharing app with a $31 billion-dollar valuation has plans to go public between 2019 and late 2020, but it is still “a bit iffy” with the move.

Despite its hesitation, Airbnb is planning moves to be IPO ready by 2019 with a few buyouts and acquisitions in the travel service space last year, including Accommoble, Tilt and Luxury Retreats, according to CEO Brian Chesky. It still has issues to contend though, starting with finding a suitable CFO to lead the charge in its IPO plans.

Slack

The messaging app Slack might be finally ready to go public by early 2019 after an almost 2 year wait. Its valuation is estimated to be at $7 billion, a 100% jump from the last funding round it had this year, which saw its value jump up to $7.1 billion.

Other tech names planning to go public next year include grocery delivery startup Instacart, food delivery service Postmates, videoconferencing software Zoom, and social media app Pinterest. If every one of these pushes through, 2019 will be a crazy and record-breaking year for IPOs.

Last Words

Investors are certainly gearing up for these upcoming IPOs to open in 2019, and hopefully, the wait will be worth the while.