Uber and Lyft IPOs in Limbo as Shutdown Threatens 2019 Listing Boom

A couple of days into the new year, the U.S. government shutdown could ruin flashy public market debuts, according to Bloomberg.

Uber and Lyft, both of which have filed confidentially with regulators for initial public offerings, believe the shutdown could slow the timeline of their listings, according to people familiar with the matter. While the final outcome depends on how long it takes for the Securities and Exchanges Commission to reopen and how substantial the feedback is when it does, neither company has gotten any comments from the agency, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the details aren’t public.

The ride-sharing giants, among the year’s most hotly anticipated IPOs, aren’t the only ones likely to face delays. With thousands of SEC employees furloughed until the shutdown ends, the agency can perform only the most basic of market functions, with limited staff available to “respond to emergency situations involving market integrity and investor protection,“ according to a notice on its website.

Bond-trading platform Tradeweb Markets has also filed confidentially for an IPO that could value it at more than $4 billion, but the timing may be delayed by the shutdown, people with knowledge of the matter said. Meanwhile, some companies involved in active mergers and acquisitions have signaled to investors that their pending takeovers could drag on.

In an emailed statement, the SEC wrote: “Prior to the shutdown taking effect, we encouraged filers to reach out to us to ask for acceleration of the effectiveness of pending registration statements, and we declared approximately a dozen registration statements effective.“