Davis Polk partners and Capital Markets practice co-heads Maurice Blanco and John Meade discussed IPO activity in the third quarter of 2026 with Law360. 

Maurice said market participants may have hoped for stronger third-quarter offerings. “We had a significant pipeline of deals that were essentially ready to go in the third quarter, and some of them priced, but many of them ended up getting delayed,” he explained. “While there was certainly activity, and we were happy to see the activity that we had, I think there was a feeling that we were hoping for more.”

Maurice also noted that private companies are staying private for longer. “Access to private capital has impacted the speed with which many companies have decided to go public,” he said. “There’s a lot of money out there that doesn’t require being public, so that means there are a lot of private companies waiting for an exit or waiting to go public. That’s a trend that we’ve continued to see and has slowed down people’s desires to hit the public markets.”

When asked about expectations for the rest of the year, John mentioned that the timing of major offerings could affect when other companies choose to launch their IPOs. “Everyone will want to avoid trying to be in the market competing for attention with a blockbuster IPO,” he noted. “There’s going to be an almost unnatural slowdown around the time when those deals are in the market.”

“Quarterly IPO Volume Fell Short Of Expectations Amid Delays,” Law360 (subscription required) (October 19, 2026) 

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