From Aramco to Visa, here are top 10 largest IPOs of all time

An Initial Public Offering refers to the issuance of the shares of a private corporation to the public for the first time. By doing so, companies can raise equity capital from public investors

An Initial Public Offering (IPO) refers to the issuance of the shares of a private corporation to the public for the first time. By doing so, companies can raise equity capital from public investors.

Public investors also get the chance to participate in the offering. An IPO is a big feat for any company. It provides a big opportunity for companies to expand and grow.

Credibility due to share listing is also a big advantage for a company that a public issue brings. The Dutch are regarded as the first ones who conducted the modern IPO. They had offered the shares of Dutch East India Company to the general public.

Here is a list of the largest global IPOs of all time:

Saudi Aramco

This Saudi Arabian company ranks in the fifth spot on the Forbes Global 2000 list for 2021. The energy company went public on 5 December 2019. It raised $25.6 billion initially by selling 3 billion shares. This figure was raised to $29.4 billion after it sold 450 million shares.

Alibaba

The public issue of Alibaba was floated on 18 September 2014. Before Saudi Aramco knocked it out of the top spot, the Chinese technology company had the biggest IPO in the world. The total capital raised for Alibaba was $21.8 billion.

SoftBank

The public issue of the communication services company was floated on 10 December 2018. The Tokyo-based company was successful in raising $21.3 billion.

NTT Mobile Communication Network

This Tokyo-based telecommunications player raised $18.1 billion when its IPO was floated on 22 October 1998.

Visa

Headquartered in San Francisco, this company specializes in the processing of debit and credit cards. Its public issue opened on 18 March 2008. Despite entering the public market during the global financial crisis, the company managed to raise $17.4 billion.

AIA Group

It is a Hong Kong based company that deals with investment and insurance. It introduced its IPO on 21 October, 2010, and raised $17.8 billion as capital.

Enel SpA

This Italian company deals with utilities, and went public on 1 November, 1999. It managed to raise $16.4 billion.

Meta (formerly Facebook)

The popular social media company Meta floated its IPO on 17 May, 2012, and raised $16 billion. It had an average of $1.93 billion daily active users as of 31 December, 2021.

General Motors

This US-based company debuted on 17 November, 2010 and raised $15.8 billion. This is a big feat for General Motors, which had emerged from a government-approved bankruptcy filing a year before.