The largest IPO in the US this year is coming! Cold chain logistics giant Lineage is expected to have a market value of $19 billion

According to the financial news app Zhitong Finance, the real estate investment trust (REIT) Lineage Inc., focusing on temperature-controlled storage, transportation, and cold chain logistics, aims to raise approximately $4.4 billion through an expanded initial public offering (IPO). This would make Lineage the largest IPO in the US stock market this year, with an IPO market value expected to reach $19 billion.

In a recent statement, Lineage, headquartered in Novi, Michigan, USA, sold nearly 57 million shares at a price of $78 per share on Wednesday, close to the upper end of the price range. This statement confirms an earlier report by the media.

According to documents on the official website of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Lineage's total market value for this IPO is approximately $19 billion, based on the number of shares issued and the latest fundraising size.

Supported by Bay Grove Capital, this large-scale IPO of the real estate investment trust is the largest IPO in the US since ARM Holdings Plc (ARM.US), a leader in chip design, successfully went public in September last year. It is also a rare large-scale IPO in the relatively quiet summer of the US stock market. Data compiled by institutions show that apart from a few companies that raised over $1 billion in funds on the US stock exchange in July during the global monetary easing period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, only three companies raised over $1 billion in the past ten years.

According to the latest IPO documents, Norway's sovereign wealth fund, worth up to $1.7 trillion, has expressed interest in purchasing Lineage shares worth up to $900 million at the IPO price.

The listing of Lineage is very positive news for the up to 20 stock underwriters and other financial institutions listed in its application. Data compiled by institutions show that the number of IPOs in the US this year has rapidly recovered from a relatively calm period, with the total fundraising size of all IPO companies exceeding $22 billion. This is nearly two-thirds higher than the same period last year but lower than the average level of the past ten years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

From the financial report of the top Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley, it is evident that Wall Street's financial activities are rebounding across the board, especially driven by the AI boom in tech company listings and expectations of interest rate cuts. Morgan Stanley's fixed income underwriting business and IPO underwriting business have significantly rebounded in 2024, with a net profit size soaring by about 41% compared to the same period last year, reaching $3.08 billion, or $1.82 per share.

Morgan Stanley's Q2 institutional securities division revenue reached as high as $7 billion, up from approximately $5.7 billion in the same period last year. Among them, the investment banking business revenue, which significantly drove the revenue growth of this division, surged by about 51% to $1.62 billion, exceeding expectations by about $220 million, mainly due to a significant increase in fixed income underwriting activities and the size of AI-related company IPOs.

Other companies that debuted on the US stock market this week include software company OneStream Inc., backed by investment giant KKR & Co., which raised approximately $490 million in its IPO on Tuesday and surged over 34% on its first day of trading, currently valuing at $4.2 billion According to the IPO filing, as of March 31, CEO Greg Lehmkuhl led Lineage, which owns a total of 482 large warehouses in 19 countries, with a capacity of approximately 3 billion cubic feet. Bay Grove will continue to hold a majority of the voting rights after the initial public offering.

The company is projected to generate a revenue of $5.3 billion in 2023, with a historical net loss of $96.2 million, compared to a revenue of around $4.9 billion and a net loss of approximately $76 million a year earlier.

The joint lead underwriters for Lineage's large IPO include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group, Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo. KKR serves as its chief financial advisor. Lineage is expected to start trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Thursday, with the trading symbol "LINE"