2018 has seen an increase in private companies accessing the private markets through private company liquidity programs. Nasdaq Private Markets recently released a report showing an increase of 74% in total number of private liquidity programs between 1H2017 and 1H2018. The 33 programs completed in the first half of 2018 have a total program volume of $10 billion. This is a 37% increase in total program volume over the first half of 2017. Twenty of these private liquidity programs were structured as third-party tender offers, while the remaining 13 were share buybacks.
Breaking down the programs by number of eligible shareholders shows that 33% of programs are completed by companies with less than 100 eligible shareholders, 33% by companies with 100-250 eligible shareholders, 24% by companies with 250-500 eligible shareholders, and 10% by companies with over 500 eligible shareholders. Additionally, 50% of companies completing private liquidity programs are valued at over $1 billion. Nasdaq’s report leads us to conclude that a broader range of companies have turned to private liquidity programs than in recent years.
Nasdaq’s report is available here.