Goldman Names Ludwig to Lead Global Equity Capital Markets
Goldman Names Ludwig to Lead Global Equity Capital Markets
(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. named a new head of global equity capital markets amid a busy year for equity issuance.
David Ludwig, currently head of Americas ECM, will become global head of the group, according to an internal memo sent Monday that was reviewed by Bloomberg. Gabe Gelman and Simon Watson will become co-heads of Americas ECM, a separate memo shows. A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs confirmed the contents of the memos.
Gelman is currently head of Americas health-care ECM, while Watson leads the region’s structured equity business and is co-head of global alternative capital solutions.
The promotions come amid a booming year for initial public offerings and equity issuance as companies shore up liquidity. Globally, such deals have raised $506 billion as of Monday, surpassing the total volume in both 2019 and 2018, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
New ways of carrying out equity transactions are starting to gain popularity -- at least in the U.S. market. Palantir Technologies Inc. and Asana Inc. are each preparing to go public via direct listings, while Unity Software Inc. chose a new way to find its debut price, and special purpose acquisition companies are becoming a more prominent part of the IPO market. Goldman Sachs, this year’s top IPO arranger according to data compiled by Bloomberg, is an adviser to both Palantir and Unity on their listings.
“We weren’t afraid of embracing new products -- SPACs, direct listings, evolutions to the traditional IPO -- and our deep involvement in all allows us to be more balanced when talking with clients,” Ludwig said in an interview.
Ludwig joined Goldman Sachs in 1997 and was named partner in 2010.
Globally, the amount of money raised in technology IPOs is on track to overtake the dot-com bubble thanks to prospective listings from unicorns such as DoorDash Inc. and Airbnb Inc., as well as Jack Ma’s financial titan Ant Group, which is planning to raise at least $30 billion in a Hong Kong offering.
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