Discord, U.S. mortgage giants and China's AI tigers: what's important about IPOs by Jan. 11
US President Donald Trump intends to decide on a timeline for the listing of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac within one to two months. Shares of two Chinese "AI tigers" - MiniMax and Zhipu AI - rose in debut trading. Discord, a platform for gamers, moved closer to going public. The main events on the IPO market during the week are in our selection.
What has come to light about future placements
- Trump will decide on plans to put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the exchange within one or two months, William Pulti, director of the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), told CNBC. The scenario of partial privatization of state shares of mortgage giants through IPOs "depends entirely on the president's decision," he stressed. The IPO of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, originally planned for late 2025, will take place "sometime" in 2026, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, whose fund holds positions in both companies, estimates that their total value after going public could be about $400 billion. Stakes in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the end of 2025 were also held by iconic short-seller Michael Burry.
- Discord has applied for an IPO in the United States, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. The audience of the platform, popular among gamers, exceeds 200 million monthly active users. In 2021, the company was valued at $15 billion, the same time it rejected Microsoft's offer to buy it for $12 billion. However, PitchBook analyst Eric Bellomo considers the previous valuation irrelevant for the public market. According to him, Discord can claim a capitalization of $5-6 billion during the offering.
- Czech ammunition and armored vehicles manufacturer CSG is considering filing for an IPO on Euronext Amsterdam as early as next week, sources tell Reuters. According to them, the company expects to raise more than €3 billion on the exchange by selling 15% of its shares. CSG owner Michal Strnad declined to tell Reuters how much CSG could raise in the IPO and at what valuation. Strnad cited defense giant Rheinmetall as a benchmark, although he allowed a discount compared to it.
- Reliance Jio Platforms, which runs India's largest telecom operator, is set to float a 2.5% stake in the country's most anticipated 2026 IPO, Reuters reported, citing sources. At the current valuation of Reliance Jio's business by Jefferies at $180 billion, the listing would raise about $4.5 billion, in which case the offering would be the largest in India's history, beating last year's record of $3.3 billion by Hyundai Motor India. Reliance Jio has a base of over 500 million subscribers. The company is controlled by India's richest billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
- Dutch telecom group Odido is considering an IPO in Amsterdam as early as January and expects to raise about €1 billion, Bloomberg sources say. Owners of the operator - investment funds Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus - have returned to plans for a listing, which was originally scheduled for the first half of 2025, but was postponed due to volatility in the markets. The funds acquired the company (formerly operating as T-Mobile Netherlands) from Deutsche Telekom and Tele2 in 2021 for €5.1 billion. Odido is one of the largest mobile operators in the Netherlands with a subscriber base of around 8 million, it also develops the Tele2 Thuis, Simpel and Ben brands.
Results of recent IPOs
- Shares of MiniMax, the second of China's so-called AI tigers to go public, doubled in value on the first day of trading on January 9 in Hong Kong. MiniMax's listing, which saw the company raise HK$4.8 billion ($620 million) to fund research and development, markedly outperformed the debut a day earlier of another "tiger" - Zhipu AI, whose shares rose 13%. MiniMax was founded in 2022 in Shanghai by former SenseTime top executive Yan Junjie. Its anchor investors include Alibaba. The company's popular products include Hailuo AI video generation tool and Talkie app, which allows users to interact with AI-powered virtual characters.
Who canceled or postponed the IPO
- Irish building materials manufacturer Kingspan has canceled the IPO of its data center division ADVNSYS. The company had planned to float a 25% stake in ADVNSYS in the first quarter of 2026, but decided to retain 100% of the business amid explosive growth in demand for data storage. Kingspan forecasts the division's profits to double in the next 4-5 years.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
