By Arasu Kannagi Basil
Jan 29 (Reuters) – Liftoff Mobile said on Thursday it was targeting a valuation of up to $5.17 billion in its initial public offering in the United States, the latest Blackstone portfolio company set to tap the new listings market.
The Redwood City, California-based mobile app marketing provider is seeking up to $762 million by selling 25.4 million shares priced between $26 and $30 apiece.
The IPO market has bounced back after a disruption caused by the historic U.S. government shutdown last fall. Wall Street expects accelerating capital markets activity in 2026, supported by a strong pipeline of late-stage private companies.
“January and February are typically slower months, but an active start will still set the tone for the year,” said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to call this the largest backlog of pre-IPO startups in at least two decades.”
Blackstone combined its portfolio companies Liftoff and Vungle in 2021 to form Liftoff Mobile, which has grown rapidly under CEO Jeremy Bondy. Its core advertising revenue jumped 40% in the nine months ended September 30.
Liftoff provides mobile app developers with tools to acquire users and grow their businesses. The platform has roughly 1.4 billion daily active users worldwide.
Last year, Liftoff announced a minority investment from growth equity firm General Atlantic at a $4.3 billion valuation.
LARGE IPO PIPELINE
The world’s largest alternative asset manager, Blackstone, is preparing for one of the largest IPO pipelines in the firm’s history, spanning across a diverse mix of sectors and geographies as buyout firms ramp up activity to return more cash to investors.
Blackstone President Jon Gray said on Thursday the large IPO pipeline for 2026 would be concentrated in the corporate space, with most of the activity in the United States.
Liftoff will list on the Nasdaq under the symbol “LFTO.” Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Morgan Stanley are the joint lead book-running managers.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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