Firefly shares soar and crypto exchange Bullish lists: highlights of the IPO by Aug. 11

Shares of US Firefly Aerospace, a SpaceX competitor, soared by a third on the first day of trading after listing on Nasdaq. Cryptocurrency exchange Bullish has decided to raise up to $629 million on the New York Stock Exchange. Czech manufacturer of armored vehicles and heavy ammunition CSG is planning an IPO in Amsterdam and is seeking a €30 billion valuation. The main events on the IPO market during the week are in our selection.

- Cryptocurrency exchange Bullish, backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, decided to raise up to $629.3 million in an IPO in New York. The company plans to list 20.3 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange at prices ranging from $28 to $31 per paper. At the upper end of the announced range, the cryptocurrency exchange will be quoted at a discount of more than 52% to its target valuation of $9 billion made in 2021, reported Reuters. Bullish wants to spend a significant portion of the IPO proceeds on buying dollar-linked stablecoins.

- Miami International Holdings, the parent company of exchange operator MIAX, is preparing an IPO in New York worth up to $315 million. The financial exchange said earlier this week that it plans to offer 15 million shares at prices ranging from $19 to $21 per paper. IPOs of major U.S. exchange operators are rare, with less than half of them going public: Cboe Global was the last to go public in 2010, notes Reuters.

- Czech armored vehicles and heavy munitions maker Czechoslovak Group (CSG) is considering an IPO, seeking a valuation of €30 billion or higher, reported Bloomberg, citing sources. According to them, the company of 33-year-old billionaire Michal Strnad is considering a listing in Amsterdam with an additional offering in Prague. The sources emphasized that final decisions have not been made yet, discussions are at an early stage and the IPO may not take place. CSG's revenues have surged since the outbreak of the military conflict in Ukraine, with arms shipments to which provided nearly half of the company's revenue in 2024.

- French hotel group Accor is considering an IPO in the U.S. of its Ennismore unit, which specializes in lifestyle hotels. According to Bloomberg sources, Ennismore could be valued at several billion dollars. According to Accor's website, Ennismore operates more than 180 hotels under the brands The Hoxton, Mondrian, 25hours Hotels, Hyde and Morgans Originals. Following the Bloomberg publication, Accor shares jumped more than 4 percent in Paris trading.

- Singapore-based Carro, Southeast Asia's largest used car marketplace, is preparing to launch an IPO in New York in 2026 and raise up to $500 million, reported Reuters, citing sources. A listing of that size would be the largest for a Southeast Asian company in the U.S. since 2017, the agency noted.

- The Middle East's leading aluminum producer Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) of the UAE has stepped up preparations for an IPO that could raise several billion dollars and become one of the largest in the region's history. According to word Bloomberg sources, the company has sent requests to investment banks to specify the terms of the IPO in order to select the organizers of the offering. EGA has been admitting the possibility of going public for nearly a decade. Co-owners of the company are Mubadala Investment of Abu Dhabi and Investment Corporation of Dubai, so the key issue will be the choice of a listing venue, Bloomberg's sources said.

- India's Tata Capital has filed for an IPO. The finance company of India's largest conglomerate, Tata Sons, will float up to 210 million new shares, its shareholders, Tata Sons and International Finance Corporation, will sell up to 265.8 million shares. The Reserve Bank of India requires Tata Sons itself to go public by the end of September. According to words Financial Times sources, the latter is ignoring the demand.

- Shares of U.S. space company Firefly Aerospace soared 34% on the first day of trading following its IPO on Nasdaq. The oversubscribed offering went above its stated range and raised $868 million. Demand for Firefly shares exceeded supply by more than 20 times. Firefly's market capitalization at the end of its debut trading exceeded $9 billion. The company's primary launch vehicle is the lightweight Alpha rocket, but only two of its six launches have been successful. Firefly is also developing the more powerful Eclipse rocket - a direct competitor to SpaceX's Falcon 9 - and the Elytra platform for servicing satellites in orbit. 2025 was a key year for the company: in March, in partnership with NASA, it successfully landed Blue Ghost on the moon, the first private spacecraft to maintain structural integrity during a vertical landing. Unlike many space companies that entered the market during the pandemic via a SPAC merger and then failed or found serious difficulties, Firefly opted for a more traditional route to the stock market. An example of a successful IPO in this sector is Rocket Lab. Like Firefly, it has diversified its business beyond launches to include satellite manufacturing.

- Quotes of the American data center operator WhiteFiber, which is owned by former bitcoin miner Bit Digital, fell by 4.6% on the first day of trading after the IPO in New York. The company listed $159.4 million worth of shares on the Nasdaq at $17 per paper, the top end of its stated price range. During the bookbuild, demand for WhiteFiber shares exceeded supply several times.  

- US startup Heartflow, a developer of an artificial intelligence-based software platform for diagnosing heart disease, has raised $317m in an IPO on Nasdaq. The offering price was $19 per share, above its stated range ($15-17). That brought the company's capitalization to $1.54 billion, counted by Bloomberg.  The stock soared another 51.32% on Friday. The price reached $28.75 per paper at the close. Heartflow went public amid weak demand for recent medtech IPOs, the agency notes: securities of shoulder implant maker Shoulder Innovations and spinal implant design platform developer Carlsmed are now trading below the offering price.  

- Anglo-Swiss commodities trader and producer Glencore, one of the world's largest, dismissed the idea of moving its listing from London to the United States. The company said a U.S. listing would not have increased its shareholder value, and Glencore executives said its chances of inclusion in the S&P 500 index were slim. Inclusion in the S&P 500 would require funds tracking that benchmark to buy Glencore shares, which would boost the company's capitalization. However, to get into the index, the company would have to change its domicile to the US. Glencore is headquartered in Switzerland and its registered office is on the island of Jersey. Since 2022, the stock has fallen about 47%, performing worse than its peers. In February 2025, Glencore said it wants to raise its valuation and to do so is considering moving its main listing from London to a venue with more liquidity.

- "China's Netflix iQiyi, whose shares are listed on the Nasdaq, is planning a $300 million secondary listing in Hong Kong, sources confirm Bloomberg. The Baidu-owned service sells a wide range of content - from Chinese historical dramas to Hollywood blockbusters - to more than 400 million monthly active users, competing with Tencent and Alibaba for the title of China's largest streaming platform. Before the pandemic, Alibaba and Baidu successfully floated their shares in Hong Kong after IPOs in the United States successfully. With Donald Trump's return to the White House, the threat of share delisting has become a renewed concern for Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges, the agency noted.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor