The US IPO market is about to host a historic event in the coming week: Venture Global (VG) is slated to go public at a stunning $100+ billion market cap, a feat achieved by just two other companies.
For more exclusive content like this, sign up for a free trial of IPO Pro, the platform that gives you all of the IPO information you need, all in one place.
At the midpoint, Venture Global plans to raise $2.2 billion at a fully diluted $115 billion valuation, making it the largest US energy IPO by deal size since 2013, and the largest US energy listing ever by market cap at IPO. Just two other companies have gone public in the US at nine-digit valuations: Facebook (Meta) in 2012 ($104 billion), and Alibaba in 2014 ($175 billion).
That means Venture Global's proposed market cap is larger than any mega-IPO from the 2020-2021 boom, such as Rivian Automotive ($76B) and Airbnb ($46B), or earlier behemoths like Uber ($82B), General Motors ($62B) and Visa ($34B).
Venture Global develops and operates natural gas liquefaction and export projects in Louisiana, coming to market amid a boom in global LNG demand. The company's massive market cap also reflects an ambitious growth strategy, with plans to spend more than $100 billion in capex to complete its five projects.
In light of its $100+ billion target valuation, Venture Global's proposed $2.2 billion offering is surprisingly small. The company is floating just 2% of its shares outstanding, well below the typical 10% to 20% seen in most IPOs; for example, Facebook raised $16 billion (15%) and Alibaba raised $22 billion (13%). Venture's smaller float may reflect a more niche pool of energy investors, as well as a way of limiting the supply of shares to structure the deal for success.
While a $100+ billion market cap at listing is still a rare occurrence, IPO valuations are larger now than in the past, driven in part by the rise of mega funding rounds and longer holding periods for venture firms. For new issuers that raised $100 million or more, the median market cap at IPO was $1.7 billion in 2024, up from $0.8 billion in 2010, far outpacing inflation.
