Bull, bear and stock exchange bell: these are the images that many people have in mind when they think of a company going public on the Frankfurt trading floor. Less well known, however, are the various ways to the stock exchange - because it doesn't always have to be the classic IPO.

And yet the Initial Public Offering, for which the three letters IPO stand, is by far the best known and most frequently chosen variant when companies decide to go public. 

The traditional IPO is the listing of a company's shares on an organized capital market. Shares from the portfolios of existing shareholders will be offered in connection with a capital increase. This is also referred to as an initial placement. While the IPO is the most famous way to raise financing on the capital market, there are additional listing trends: 

Direct Listing

In a Direct Listing process, existing shares (founder, employee and investor shares) will be listed without raising capital. You can find more information on this in our podcast. 

SPAC

A SPAC or acquisition purpose company with no own business operations. Its sole objective is to raise capital through a listing, the proceeds of which are subsequently used to acquire a non-listed company within a limited period of time and to indirectly list it on the stock exchange. 

Carveout/Spin-off

Subsidiaries of companies that are already listed on the stock exchange can conduct a carveout IPO, which combines a reflection of the shareholder base with a direct listing process. 

IPO-Bonds

IPO candidates may use convertible bonds or bonds with stock options, combined with a direct listing of the created shares on the IPO exercise date.