Signal Private companies now buy at public-company scale while staying private longer

Summary

Private companies are now operating at the scale of listed firms while delaying their stock market debuts longer than ever. CB Insights links the stretched timeline to IPO to the ease with which private firms can raise capital, provide liquidity and pursue acquisitions. The average age of technology companies at IPO has risen as a result. In 2025, unicorns led nine acquisitions worth more than one billion dollars each, the largest valued at 45 billion dollars. Such deals were once associated mainly with public acquirers. The pattern suggests that staying private no longer limits a company's ability to grow through large purchases.