Andersen Group IPO: Shares of resurrected tax firm debut

Premarket trading in shares of tax advisory Andersen Group has started on the Freedom trading platform. Later on Wednesday, December 17, the stock will debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ANDG. The IPO comes against the backdrop of the brand’s complicated legacy, with investors assessing whether the company can transform a reputational collapse into a sustainable growth story.

Andersen Group raised $176 million in its IPO on the NYSE, placing 11 million shares at $16 apiece, the top of the previously announced price range. This means a $1.75 billion valuation for Andersen, Reuters writes.

The transaction was led by Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank, Deutsche Bank, Truist Securities, and Wells Fargo.

Andersen Group is a U.S. professional services firm that was formed after the collapse of audit firm Arthur Andersen in 2002, following the scandal involving energy trader Enron, one of the largest corporate bankruptcies in U.S. history. In 2001, it emerged that Enron had systematically misrepresented its financial statements, misleading investors. Arthur Andersen, which served as the company’s auditor, was convicted of obstruction of justice for destroying documents linked to the investigation, though the U.S. Supreme Court later overturned the verdict, Reuters recalled. In 2009, Arthur Andersen agreed to pay $16 million to Enron’s creditors to settle claims that the accounting firm was negligent in auditing and advising Enron, Bloomberg writes.

After Arthur Andersen’s collapse, parts of its business continued as independent operations. The tax practice was acquired by HSBC and operated under a different name. Andersen Group was later built on these assets but avoided using the Andersen brand for years, distancing itself from the negative legacy. Only in 2014 did the company return to the Andersen name, betting that the market would eventually treat it as a stand-alone business.

Today, Andersen Group provides tax, business valuation, financial advisory, and management consulting services to individual and corporate clients. The firm employs more than 2,200 people in the U.S. Outside of the country, it operates through Andersen Global, a Swiss-based association of legally independent firms spanning more than 60 countries.

For the nine months ended September 30, Andersen Group increased revenue 13.4% year over year to $668.3 million, while net income more the halved, to $65.7 million.

The U.S. IPO market is seeing a final burst of activity as issuers race to list before the window for fresh flotations closes for the year, Reuters points out. Choosing this period for an offering suggests a priority on securing capital quickly, even at the risk of volatility in early 2026, Lukas Muehlbauer, IPOX research analyst, was quoted as saying.

Muehlbauer described Andersen’s listing as an "interesting resurrection story," arguing that the company is betting the brand’s historic reputation for high-quality services will outweigh the legacy of the Enron scandal.

Post-listing share performance will depend on broader market conditions and the effectiveness of Andersen’s execution, Capital.com writes. Investor interest will hinge, the site argues, on whether the company presents itself as a sustainable growth business rather than a brand weighed down by legacy risks.

The global tax advisory market is expanding, and Andersen is positioned to benefit from rising client complexity and globalization, said Donovan Jones, an analyst at IPO Edge. He identified risks including high revenue concentration in the U.S. and "'emerging growth company' status."

Freedom Finance analyst Alem Bektemirov values Andersen, based on the average industry price-to-sales multiple, at about $13.27 per share. Bektemirov cited competition, dependence on the client base, as well as reputational and legal considerations as key risks for the business.

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Freedom clients will be able to trade Andersen shares before the start of the main U.S. session. Premarket trading will open 2-3 hours early, at 15:30-16:30 Astana time. Investors can participate by selecting the symbol ANDG on the Freedom platform.