Alliance Laundry and its backer, private equity firm BDT Capital Partners, sold 34.1 million shares and raised $826.3 million in its US IPO introduction.
The 117-year-old Alliance Laundry Systems made its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) debut on Thursday and was valued at roughly $4.83 billion. The company’s shares rose 11.4%, making it the latest to join the much-sought-after IPO listings market in the aftermath of the global tariff war.
Alliance’s shares were priced at $24.5 apiece, above the issue price of $22. The Wisconsin-based company and its backer, private equity firm BDT Capital Partners, sold 34.1 million shares and raised $826.3 million in its US IPO introduction.
The washing machine maker’s performance on the NYSE signals growing investor confidence in deals, which are although less focused, remain more capital structure private equity in nature, which has thus far been absent from the market psyche.
In 2015, BDT Capital acquired a majority stake in Alliance from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. In January 2024, it was reported that BDT and MSD Partners considered selling the laundry equipment maker, which could have raised its valuation to nearly $5 billion, including debt.
In 2023, an investment firm backed by computer manufacturer Michael Dell merged with investment banker Byron Trott’s merchant bank to create the combined BDT and MSD entity. Last year, this company sought to value Alliance Laundry at over 13 times the company’s 12-month earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which was roughly $350 million.
Alliance, which was founded in 1908, supplies laundry systems to the US military facilities, hotel chains, laundromats, healthcare facilities, restaurants, apartment complexes, etc. Alliance’s debut in the market shows a newfound fervour among companies that have remained sceptical about going public with their listing in light of trade policy uncertainties.
In the past few months, IPO markets have received a boost mainly from tech and fintech companies. Cryptocurrency firms like stablecoin issuer Circle also went public earlier this year, and its reception on the IPO market was regarded as the much-needed confirmation that capital and money markets under the Trump administration will indeed thrive, securing confidence in his image as the ‘crypto President.’
Investors are gaining more appetite for market-related risks, but this enthusiasm could be short-lived, as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that the US government shutdown since the end of September poses a threat to the slowly gaining momentum of the IPO market.
Due to the government shutdown, the SEC is currently thinly staffed, and so, the agency said that it would temporarily stop processing IPO paperwork. The market was stalled for three years due to high interest rates and volatility, but with many successful listings in 2025, market analysts expected this year to be the breakout year for IPOs. However, this shutdown has left companies set to go public in the dark, as no prospectus will be reviewed, and no comments will be cleared.
Dealogic confirmed that in 2025, US IPOs have raised $52.94 billion from 263 listings, with LNG giant Venture Global, credit lender Klarna and AI cloud firm CoreWeave emerging as the largest listings. Once Upon a Farm, Beta Technologies, and life insurance company Ethos Technology were some of the biggest names that were next in line to go public.
Some other firms that were in the pipeline to enter the IPO market towards the end of 2025 and in 2026 are medical supplies company Medline, SoftBank-backed PayPay, and corporate travel management service provider Navan. However, IPO researchers are convinced that this shutdown has moved the timeline back for companies which were already on the fence about going public.
Should the shutdown last any longer, the IPO market is bound to reach a grinding halt, offsetting the long-awaited progress that was made in the past few months.
