Small Business Reading Room

The Jurisdiction of Choice for U.S. IPOs is Delaware

In 2013, 83 percent of all new U.S. initial Public Offerings (IPOs) chose to incorporate in Delaware. The state remains the chosen home for more than half of all U.S. publicly traded companies and 65 percent of Fortune 500® companies, according to the 2013 Annual Report of the Delaware Division of Corporations recently released by Secretary of State Jeffrey W. Bullock.

Of the 71 venture-backed companies incorporated in Delaware over the last year, 69 of them chose Delaware to launch their IPOs as Delaware business entities, including global real estate network REMAX Holdings, social media giant Twitter, and movie theater chain AMC Entertainment.

Overall, formation activity in Delaware increased 5 percent to nearly 153,000 business entities in 2013, bringing the total number of entities to more than 1,052,000.

The 2013 data underscores the value that Delaware provides its corporate citizens. “Now more than ever, investors from around the world are looking for a neutral vehicle that facilitates business transactions and offers an excellent forum for dispute resolution,” says Secretary of State Bullock.

Delaware entities are increasingly the vehicle of choice for legal entities around the world, explains Andrea Tinianow, Director of Corporate and International Development for the State of Delaware. “Delaware entities give businesses greater flexibility to operate and grow, and at the same time, provide managers and stakeholders alike with access to the state’s preeminent business courts, where disputes can be resolved quickly, and a body of case law that provides substantive precedent that they can use to govern their companies.”

Read the entire 2013 Annual Report here.

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