IPO Market Dynamics: Geographical and Sectoral Dimensions

The IPO (Initial Public Offering) is a widely used financing tool worldwide, but the scientific community has not extensively analyzed the dynamics of the IPO market. The purpose of the paper is to identify the absence of clustering in certain industries during “hot” IPO markets from January 1990 to December 2022, as well as to identify IPO waves in the Chinese market. The research methodology included analytical methods for collecting and processing information, comparative and graphical analysis of an author-collected database covering over 16,000 IPO transactions with a placement size of over 50 million USD. The study includes a comparison of IPO transactions in China and the rest of the world, as well as an industry andgeographical analysis, with explanations for differences in dynamics. The paper also illustrates IPO waves on the analyzed horizon and explains why they formed. Companies globally raised over 5 trillion dollars through IPO transactions during the analyzed period, with developed countries raising the majority of funds. However, the dynamics of the IPO market show asignificant increase in China’s and developing countries’ share in the last decade. During this period, five IPO waves occurred, characterized by significant growth in placement volumes and first-day trading returns. It has been concluded that clustering in the IPO market was not specific to certain sectors, but coincided with the global increase in the number of transactions and IPO returns, while clustering in the Chinese IPO market coincided with the dynamics of the global IPO market.