The 3Q19 IPO Market's Legal League Table

In the 3Q19, 39 IPOs raised $10.8 billion. Tech and healthcare again stayed active, accounting for 62% of deals. Highly valued tech unicorns like Datadog and Cloudflare were well-received, though volatile markets and a contraction in growth stocks caused average IPO returns to fall to 1% at quarter end. Nine IPOs raised $500 million or more, including billion-dollar offerings from SmileDirectClub and Peloton. Blank check companies continued at a strong pace, as 14 SPACs raised $3.0 billion. With every offering requiring two or more legal firms, one for issuers and one for underwriters, the 3Q19 IPO market’s 53 deals saw 138 legal engagements with 60 law firms.

Based in Palo Alto, Cooley again took the top spot serving on 15 IPOs that raised $3.1 billion, thanks to a strong reputation in Silicon Valley for healthcare and tech issuers. Latham & Watkins was #2 with 11 listings that raised $4.9 billion, including underwriter counsel for the quarter’s two largest IPOs, SmileDirectClub and Peloton. SPAC specialist Ellenoff Grossman jumped to third, appearing on nine of the quarter’s 14 blank check IPOs. New York’s Davis Polk placed #4 with eight IPOs, including company counsel for the quarter’s largest foreign issuer DouYu. Cayman Islands-based Maples and Calder, a favorite for SPACs and foreign issuers, rose to #5. Excluding SPACs, Skadden and Shearman would have been #4 and #5, respectively.

View our 3Q19 US IPO Legal League Table Report 

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In early July, we released our 2Q19 report; read it here. 
In early April, we released our 1Q19 report; read it here. 
In early December, we released our 2018 report; read it here.