The Chicago-based investment bank priced its ipo at 20 US Dollars per share for a market capitalization of 2 billion. The firm previously filed with SEC for a listing on the ground of a 2025 turnover of 783.8 million US Dollars (578.7 million in 2024) and profits of 214.1 million (163.6 million)
On 20 May, Wednesday, Lincoln International, a global boutique investment banking with a focus on mid-market and private capital, launched its IPO on NYSE at 20 US Dollars per share and the opening price went up 12% at 22.51 US Dollars and reached a 23 US Dollars peak during the trading session for a market capitalization in the region of 2.3 billion US Dollars. However, stocks slightly fell in after-hours exchanges.
Lincoln fetched 421 million di US Dollars out of its IPO on the ground of an enterprise value in the region of 2 billion US Dollars (press release). The firm and some of the selling shareholders placed 21.05 million class A shares with a greenshoe option for a further 3.16 million items.
The investment bank appointed Goldman Sachs & Co and Morgan Stanley as joint lead book-running managers, BMO Capital Markets, Citizens Capital Markets, and Evercore ISI as bookrunners. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, A Stifel Company and Wolfe | Nomura Alliance acted as co-managers.
Lincoln carried on the largest IPO by an American investment bank since Lazard’s listing in 2005. In April 2026, the firm applied for a listing on NYSE (press release and SEC filing) without disclosing the amount of shares and the pricing range for the IPO (see here a previous post by BeBeez and the filing with SEC).
Jim Lawson and Rob Barr founded Chicago-based Lincoln International in 1996. An integrated team of 1400 professionals work in the firm’s 30 bureaus in 14 countries and advice private equity investors and corporations.
In October 2025, Lincoln acquired MarshBerry, an advisory firm for the insurance brokerage and wealth management sectors with a 40-year track record. In 2024, the NYSE-listed bank acquired TCG Corporate Finance for consolidating its presence in the technology franchise and financial services sectors. In 2022, Lincoln purchased Spurrier Capital Partners.
Lincoln said in its IPO filing that the growth of private capital and financial investors-led deals will create a larger and more stable pool of M&A fees. Global fees for M&A advisory services more than doubled since 2000 and hit 27.6 billion in 2025, whilst independent consultants almost tripled their market share, reaching around 37% over the same period.
Growing private equity portfolios with unrealised assets, abundant available liquidity and increasing pressure on investors to generate cash will further fuel the global M&A activity and underpin the growing demand for advisory services. Lincoln says that it is in a strong position to capture a growing share of fees. In 2025, several listed boutique investment banks posted good performances.
In the third quarter of 2026 fiscal year, NYSE-listed M&A firm Houlihan Lokey, public since 2015, generated a 717 million turnover (+18% yoy). NYSE-listed Moelis launched its IPO in 2014, and its 2025 sales are worth 1.52 billion (+28% yoy). During the presentation of its quarterly results in February 2026, the company said it recorded a year-on-year double-digit increase in both average commission fees and the number of closed transactions. Since their respective IPOs, the value of Moelis’s shares almost tripled, while the market capitalization of Houlihan Lokey rose in the region of 8X.
