Back in business? The Australian IPO market eyes a comeback

1. State of the Australian IPO Market

With the success of the Virgin Australia IPO fresh in people's minds, we are frequently being asked whether the IPO market in Australia - firmly closed since the end of 2021 - is now open, and more importantly, whether it is open for sponsor vendors.

The short answer is, it depends.

A common view, promoted by the ASX, bankers and investors alike, is that the IPO market in Australia is always open for well priced, high quality assets, and growing businesses with long term growth prospects.

Virgin ticked all the above boxes and in particular was considered to be well priced, with the IPO shares being offered at a significant discount (~30%) to a well known, liquid competitor.

This suggests to us, that where a sponsor can be flexible on price and demonstrate clear value for IPO investors, the market is likely open for them.

Whilst Virgin has not heralded a flood of IPOs hitting the market here in Australia – we are certainly seeing an uptick in real pipeline, and are working with a number of IPO hopefuls that are looking to list this calendar year.

In positive news, we are seeing more US listing activity with the strength of equity markets encouraging PE firms to take their portfolio companies public in the US. In June, we saw consumer intelligence company, NIQ Global (Advent International and KKR) launch its ~US$1.1b NYSE IPO targeting a market capitalisation on listing of ~US$7.3b. IPO activity is gaining momentum across technology, digital assets, fintech, and healthcare.

This activity is promising as there is form for Australian public market deal activity to follow the US.

There has also been a significant uptick in IPO activity in Hong Kong. IPO funds raised in Hong Kong rose by around 700% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, totalling close to $21 billion (US$ 13.7 billion).  This included the IPO of Contemporary Amperex Technology, the world's largest electric vehicle battery maker, which raised around $8.1 billion (US$ 5.3 billion) in May 2025, the largest IPO worldwide to date. IPO activity is strong across the technology, healthcare and consumer sectors involving companies primarily based in Mainland China. The IPO pipeline remains robust, and Hong Kong is on track to rank #1 worldwide in terms of IPO funds raised in 2025.

With the assumption that markets continue to stabilise and market participants adjust to policy shifts, we hope that activity continues without succumbing to tariff wobbles or other uncertainty.

We understand that PE firms have a robust pipeline of portfolio companies ready for exit and we are ready to assist.

2. Recent ASIC changes to help facilitate IPOs

On 10 June, ASIC published a new media release¹ in response to market calls to shorten the IPO process in Australia, including through responses to ASIC's recent discussion paper on the evolving dynamics between public and private markets.

Under ASIC's new policy, certain eligible IPO hopefuls² can access a shorter IPO timetable that ASIC says is "designed to reduce deal execution risk". It is also intended that reducing the period of execution risk could lead to better pricing outcomes for the relevant IPO hopefuls.

ASIC's new approach means that it will informally review (i.e. pre-vet) IPO offer documents two weeks prior to the formal public lodgement. This is intended to remove the risk that ASIC will extend its review period (i.e. the exposure period) from 7-14 days after the proposed IPO has gone public, and require an entity to lodge a supplementary prospectus. In theory, this can reduce an investors period "on risk" by at least 7 days.

ASIC has also offered a "no action" position that allows an eligible IPO candidate to accept applications under a Retail Offer, during the 7 day exposure period which is prohibited under the Australian Corporations Act. Settlement of the IPO and admission to ASX can still only happen after the initial 7 day exposure period.

ASIC says that its introduction of this fast track process shows its commitment to ensuring Australian public markets remain attractive. Public markets have been facing a number of challenges globally, many of which are outside the control of the regulators.

Whilst we do not expect this alone to open up the IPO market, it is a welcome accommodation from ASIC. There is no doubt that reducing the risk period for investors, will lower one potential obstacle for investors deciding whether to support a new listing.