Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Which Firm Had the Most IPO Audit Clients In Q2 2021?

Posted on by Jason Bramwell

On this the last day of the third quarter, let’s take a look back at initial public offering activity in the second quarter of the year, which featured the biggest IPO since 2000 in terms of proceeds, according to Audit Analytics.

There were 13 IPOs with proceeds greater than or equal to $1 billion last quarter, with cryptocurrency company Coinbase Global leading the way raising more than $28.7 billion, becoming the first public listing of a major crypto company. This makes Coinbase the largest IPO in the last 21 years and the only one that wasn’t a traditional IPO:

Unlike a traditional IPO, in which new shares are created, underwritten, and sold to the public, Coinbase chose the direct listing route, in which no new shares are created and only existing, outstanding shares are sold with no underwriters involved.

Deloitte was the audit firm for Coinbase’s historic IPO, while PwC audited the second-biggest IPO of Q2—ride-hailing company DiDi Global, which raised more than $4.4 billion, placing it 14th largest overall since 2000. But neither Deloitte nor PwC was the leader in IPO auditor market share last quarter.

According to the Audit Analytics analysis, it was EY that led in terms of IPO audit clients with 32, totaling more than $12.4 billion in proceeds. Marcum, the leader in Q1, came in second with 28—all of which were special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Deloitte, which led by a mile in IPOs audited with the most total proceeds (nearly $39.9 billion), came in third with 24.

Here’s an IPO auditor market share scorecard for Q2, courtesy of Audit Analytics:

Of the 181 IPOs in US markets in Q2, 60 were SPACs and three were direct listings. If you removed those 60 SPACs from the equation, Marcum and Withum would drop out of the leaderboard, as all of their IPO audit clients in the second quarter were blank check companies.

In non-SPAC IPOs, EY remains on top with 31, followed by Deloitte with 24, PwC with 21, KPMG with 14, and all other firms with 31.

Q2 2021 IPOs: Auditor Market Share and Stats [Audit Analytics]

Related article:

Which Firm Had the Most IPO Audit Clients In Q1 2021?

Related Posts

Naughty dog - Lying dog in the middle of mess in the kitchen

Marcum Took On Too Many Clients and Totally Wrecked Their Quality Control, Says the PCAOB in Disciplinary Order

About an hour ago the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) announced a settled disciplinary […]

Listicle of the Day: Top Accounting Firms For Executive Women In 2020

These six public accounting firms can add “Working Mother Top Company for Executive Women 2020+ […]

Firm Watch Ranking and Wrap-up

winners.jpgSo here’s our little wrap up on the firms we covered this week. Pretty difficult to figure out who’s really got it the worst out there, as every firm seems to have its own skeletons. God knows that we’ll continue to dig through as many closets as we can find in order to keep you all informed, especially as we approach the fiscal year ends for raises and bonuses (or lack thereof) and the incoming new hires get razed.
See the rank/em>


Taking a Beating
1. PwC – On top of everything that PwC is already dealing with, rumor has it that this year’s new hires got their starting pay cut but it’ll be spreading over the next 24 months to ease the pain. PwC is, for the lack of a better comparison, the Goldman Sachs of the accounting firms. They’re always going to take the most heat and be scrutinized the most. So with that in mind, they top our first ranking as the firm that seems to be taking the most serious beating.
2. E&Y – Judging by the comments, sounds like E&Y has had the most significant layoffs. Somehow the firm still finds the cash to throw a monster international rager for interns. The Lehman Brothers lawsuits haven’t really even gotten started. Our suggestion: Sneak down to Orlando and party on the company dime while you can.
Bloody but Somehow, Still Standing
3. BDO – BDO has got to figure what to do about the $520-odd million they owe Banco Espirito. Considering the fact that they won’t be getting help from the International Firm Global Cooperative, this may be a hell of a problem. Other than the TTT comments, BDO-ers aren’t saying much. Get your friends that work there to spill their guts here.
4. KPMG – Rumors of another reduction in force in October, forced PTO, teams are short staffed. We would like more info on those cell phone chairs please. The Radio Station troops are doing a lot of belly aching, which we love, that’s what were here for. Keep it up Blue! Obviously, the big risk here is the New Century lawsuit which includes the “we’re going to piss everyone off” quote. Considering the pace of these lawsuits, we’ll be talking about it well into next decade.
Maintaining
5. Deloitte – Deloitte, while canning plenty of people, partners not sharing the love and losing some big clients, does not have any major litigation pending that we can see so they fall near the bottom of our list at this point in time. Oh sure you could say that Parmalat is out there but does anyone give a damn? They make extra long-shelf-life milk. That’s a fraud in it’s own right.
6. Grant Thornton – Sounds like G to the T is able to keep their layoffs pretty quiet but they possibly have had it the worst. Keep enlightening us with those details. Refco is out there but those guys were cheats, liars, and thieves. A public defender could get you out of that. However, the biggest strike we see against is trying to squeeze into cool kids club with the coining of “Global 6 Accounting Organization”. Nice try GT.
So there you have it. P. Dubs and E&Y take the top two spots in our very first Firm Watch ranking. Radio Station and BDO have got serious issues to work and Big D and GT seem to fall to the bottom of the ranking by having less bad issues than the other firms.
Give us your thoughts. Reshuffle completely? Any more tips? Send them to tips@goingconcern.com. We’ll do the firm watch every so often as big events unfold. In the mean time, keep sending us tips, dirt, and ridiculous emails that inform you about paper clip rationing and the such.