SpaceX in 'quiet period,' Medline had the listing of the year: what's important about the IPO by Dec. 21

SpaceX has entered a "quiet period" ahead of its IPO. Shares of medical supplies provider Medline jumped almost 1.5 times in debut trading after the year's main listing. The placement of US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been postponed to 2026 and risks not taking place at all. The main events on the IPO market during the week are in our selection.

- Elon Musk's SpaceX has notified employees of the introduction of a regulatory "silence period" prohibiting any public discussion of the company's growth or value, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. This signals the transition of the world's most expensive aerospace and defense company to an active phase of preparation for the largest IPO in history, the agency said. According to its interlocutors, restrictions at SpaceX are being imposed in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. regulator. "Silence period" - the time before the placement of shares, during which the issuer is prohibited from making statements that could inflate future quotations. According to Bloomberg, SpaceX is preparing to go public in 2026 and raise more than $30 billion with a company valuation of $1.5 trillion.

- Small AI chip maker Cerebras Systems, which competes with Nvidia, is preparing to file with U.S. regulators next week for a U.S. stock offering and expects to list in the second quarter of 2026, sources told Reuters. Cerebras had already filed for an IPO last year, but then postponed it and later canceled it altogether. According to the agency, U.S. authorities were reviewing a minority investment in the AI startup by UAE-based technology company G42 for national security risks. According to one of Reuters' sources, Cerebras is no longer listed among G42's investors in the new filing. During the last investment round in October, the startup raised more than $1 billion at a valuation of $8 billion, the agency said.

- The world's largest supplier of in-flight catering Gategroup has chosen underwriters for an IPO, which could take place in the second half of 2026. According to Bloomberg, the organizers of the listing in Zurich will be Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and UBS. The company is now owned by Singaporean fund Temasek and Hong Kong investment firm RRJ Capital. This will be Gategroup's second attempt to return to the stock exchange after canceling its 2018 offering due to weak demand. Back then, the company had planned to raise CHF1.1 billion ($1.4 billion).

- Activist investment fund Elliott Management has started preparing for the IPO of book chains Barnes & Noble and Waterstones, the Financial Times reported. The IPO could take place in the second half of 2026 in London or New York. According to FT sources, the British capital is still considered as a priority listing venue. Barnes & Noble and Waterstones are the two largest sellers of books in the US and UK. Last year their combined revenue was about $3 billion and profits reached $400 million. This week, the holding company's chief executive James Daunt said book sales were "going very well" and called 2025 "fantastic".

- Shares of US medical supplies provider Medline soared 41% in debut trading in New York after the biggest IPO of the year. The company raised $6.26 billion and received a capitalization of $39 billion. Medline's offering surpassed China's CATL's $5.26 billion listing in Hong Kong and became the largest in the U.S. since Rivian went public in 2021, Bloomberg notes.

- Shares of Andersen Group, the successor of auditing firm Arthur Andersen, rose 47% on the first day of trading. The company raised $176 mln by placing securities on the New York Stock Exchange at the upper limit of the range with demand exceeding supply tenfold. The brand is known in connection with the high-profile bankruptcy of energy giant Enron in 2001 as a result of one of the largest corporate frauds in history. Arthur Andersen was then found guilty of obstructing an investigation into Enron's financial statements. The U.S. Supreme Court later acquitted the auditor, but the business was not restored in a new format until years later.

- Quotes of Chinese AI-chip developer MetaX Integrated Circuits, founded by former top managers of AMD, soared by 693% on the day of its debut on the stock exchange in Shanghai. MetaX raised 4.2 billion yuan ($596 million). Demand for the company's shares from retail investors exceeded the supply by more than 4,000 times. According to KPMG, MetaX's listing - China's sixth-largest in 2025 - valued the loss-making startup at 50 times its 2024 revenue. Nvidia has a valuation of 34 and AMD has a valuation of 14, Reuters notes.

- Shares of HashKey, the operator of Hong Kong's largest crypto exchange, ended debut trading down 0.2% after an IPO of 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars ($206 million). During the volatile session, the company's quotes fluctuated from a 6.6% increase to an 8.4% drop, but eventually fell below the offering price (HK$6.68). The listing of HashKey took place against the backdrop of a sharp weakening of the bitcoin exchange rate, which has fallen by 30% from its October high.

- IPO American mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Ma, originally planned for the end of 2025, will be held "somewhere" in 2026, said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. However, Bloomberg analysts believe that the withdrawal of companies from state control may take years: the necessary procedures, including the revision of capital requirements, will take a long time. Experts warn of risks for private investors, whose actions have already led to a threefold increase in shares on the over-the-counter market in 2025. Bloomberg estimates that the probability that privatization will not be completed in time for the end of Donald Trump's presidential term is about 33% and continues to increase.

- Startup CloudKitchens by ex-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has shelved plans for an IPO in the Middle East, Bloomberg sources claim. Instead of listing, the company, which builds kitchens and leases them to online restaurants, is considering a private placement. It had previously planned a dual listing in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh in 2026 with a target business valuation of about $2 billion. The revision of plans coincided with a cooling of the IPO market in the Middle East after four years of boom and stricter investor requirements for asset valuations, the agency said.

- Nasdaq predicts a sharp rise in the number of IPOs in 2026 due to the plans of large startups to enter the U.S. market, one of the exchange's top managers told Reuters. The trading floor operator said it has raised $46.65 billion since the start of 2025, more than doubling year-on-year. The exchange also strengthened its position by moving 22 issuers from the NYSE, including Walmart, with a total valuation of $1.2 trillion. The most anticipated 2026 offerings in the U.S. include SpaceX, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and OpenAI.

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