The return of Australian IPOsThe return of Australian IPOs

Why going public still matters

While we’ve all observed companies remaining private for longer, the narrative that the public market has lost its shine misses a crucial point. When a company is ready to scale, an IPO is still a powerful option. 

I’m always speaking to companies weighing up the benefits of staying private against the growth impetus of going public. In my experience, the decision to go public comes down to ambition. An IPO is one of the quickest ways to grow. It provides access to a far greater range of institutional investors and provides a heightened public profile that helps accelerate that growth. 

It also unlocks a sophisticated secondary capital raising scheme, meaning that if a major acquisition opportunity comes along, a listed company can move much faster to raise the funds it needs. And unlike many private sales, an IPO often allows founders to keep more control over the company they’ve built. 

Taking the friction out of the system

Despite these benefits, the process of listing has increasingly been perceived by some in the market as a high-risk, high-cost challenge. As a legal advisor who guides companies through this very process, I often hear these concerns. That’s why I find the recent proposed public market initiatives from ASIC encouraging. 

One of the key problems ASIC has set out to solve was the risk and uncertainty in the listing timeline. In June 2025, ASIC introduced an important change on a trial basis, and one that our firm and a group of investment banks in the market advocated for. This was the new ASIC fast-track prospectus review process. 

Previously, a company would lodge its prospectus publicly and wait for ASIC’s feedback over the one-week exposure period, which could be extended to two weeks at ASIC’s discretion, all while the market was moving. Now, companies using the fast-track process can lodge a draft prospectus privately with ASIC two weeks in advance of the public lodgement. This allows companies to privately deal with any feedback from ASIC, so by the time the prospectus is lodged publicly, there is less risk that the exposure period will be extended. 

This might sound like a small procedural change, but the impact can be significant. 

The change aims to reduce the time between pricing the offer and listing on ASX, potentially down to two weeks. Why does that matter? Because time is risk. The bigger the gap, the more time the market has to fluctuate and the world has to change, which investors factor into what price they are prepared to pay for the company’s shares at IPO. By shortening the at-risk period for investors, it boosts their confidence, which in turn leads to a better pricing process for the company and its investors. 

From a good start to a great market

When a company comes to me today, my conversation with them is now more optimistic. I can tell them that the regulator is actively working to streamline the path to listing. 

There is no silver bullet to fix and re-enliven public markets. However, the initiatives ASIC has adopted and is looking to adopt are steps in the right direction. In our recent AFR piece in June 2025, we called the ASIC fast-track prospectus review process a “damn good start”. The most recent initiatives announced by ASIC are a great next step. My hope is that ASIC will address post-listing volatility next. 

Much of an IPO is judged on how it trades in the first few days and weeks post listing. If the offer price is $1.20 and trading sits at about $1.00 for the first few weeks, that creates a negative sentiment that can weigh on a company for years. 

In Hong Kong, the US and the UK, underwriters may use a “greenshoe”, also known as market stabilisation arrangements to seek to support the price in the first 30 days. Here in Australia, the regulatory conditions to do that are just too restrictive. Easing those conditions would, in my view, be a win for investor confidence and would put our market on a level footing with global exchanges. 

The real win for more companies going public

A swelling of ASX ranks is good for the economy. It provides capital for expansion and job creation, and offers investment opportunities for the public, democratising access for investors who are traditionally locked out of the private market. 

Companies also get the benefit of media profiling and broker analysis, a wealth of information that simply doesn’t exist for a private company. A healthier, more streamlined IPO market means more high-quality companies listing, giving everyday investors access to vital growth opportunities. 

My advice to founders and company leaders

For any founder or company leader considering an IPO in the next 12 to 18 months, my best advice is to be prepared. 

The market conditions for an IPO, including external factors like geopolitics, inflation and interest rates as well as your own results, can create very small “IPO windows”. That window might only be open for a few weeks a couple of times a year. 

You need to have all your ducks in a row: your advisors in place, your offer documents prepared, and your due diligence near complete. That way, when the opportunity arises, you can seize it. 

Small changes, big impact

It’s encouraging to see the regulator focused on creating better conditions for new listings. This first raft of proposed changes is a strong move to reduce uncertainty for leaders looking at taking their companies public, and I’m looking forward to seeing the impact. I’m also watching with great anticipation to see what ASIC does next, and with optimism for the future of Australia’s public markets.