Lincoln International, the Chicago-founded middle-market advisory firm, filed an S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 24, 2026 to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LCLN. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are serving as joint lead book-running managers, according to Sharecafe. The offering is what industry observers are calling “a rare investment bank IPO” — and when the numbers come into view, it is easy to see why the firm chose this moment to go public.
A Business on a Strong Trajectory
The S-1 contains the first public look at Lincoln International’s financials, and the growth profile is striking. The firm generated $783.8 million in revenue for 2025, up 35% from $578.7 million in 2024. Net income was $214.1 million in 2025, up from $163.6 million the prior year — implying a net income margin of approximately 27%, well above the margins many listed peers have reported at comparable revenue scales.
That trajectory — 35% revenue growth and a 27% net margin — tells the story of a firm that caught the M&A rebound squarely. After two years of compressed deal volumes driven by rising interest rates and regulatory scrutiny, transaction activity accelerated through 2025 as borrowing costs stabilized and private equity sponsors reopened their portfolios for exits and bolt-on acquisitions. Lincoln International, with its deep relationships among mid-market sponsors, was well positioned to capture that wave.
What Lincoln International Does
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Chicago, Lincoln International advises on middle-market transactions in the $250 million to $2 billion enterprise value range. The firm operates across four core service lines:
- Mergers & Acquisitions: buy-side and sell-side advisory, cross-border deals
- Capital Advisory & Restructuring: debt raising, balance sheet advisory, distressed situations
- Private Funds Advisory: helping private equity firms raise new funds from institutional limited partners
- Valuations & Opinions: fair value assessments for investment funds and fairness opinions
The firm covers seven major sectors — business services, consumer, energy transition, financial services, healthcare, industrials, and technology — and operates globally from offices across the Americas (including Brazil), Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Nordics, Austria, Benelux), Asia (China, India, Japan), and the Middle East and Australia. In 2025, Lincoln International acquired MarshBerry, an advisory firm specializing in insurance, wealth management, and accounting, expanding its financial services practice. The firm also publishes the Lincoln Private Market Index, a quarterly tracker of private-company valuations used by institutional investors as a benchmark for private equity portfolio performance.
Notable recent transactions include advising on Madison Industries’ $1.95 billion sale of Madison Fire & Rescue to 3M and Bain Capital, as well as advising on Cushon’s sale to WTW.
How Lincoln Stacks Up Against Its Public Peers
| Firm | Founded | IPO Year | Revenue (Latest) | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lazard (LAZ) | 1848 | 2005 | $3.1B (TTM) | $4.5B |
| Evercore (EVR) | 1995 | 2006 | $3.9B (FY2025) | ~$12.7B |
| Moelis & Company (MC) | 2007 | 2014 | $1.5B (TTM) | $4.7B |
| Houlihan Lokey (HLI) | 1972 | 2015 | $2.6B (TTM) | ~$10.8B |
| Lincoln International (LCLN) | 1996 | 2026E | $783.8M (FY2025) | TBD |
At $783.8 million in 2025 revenue, Lincoln International sits below Moelis ($1.5B) and well below Evercore and Houlihan Lokey in absolute scale. But its 35% year-over-year revenue growth meaningfully exceeds the pace of its listed peers — and its 27% net margin is competitive with the best performers in the group. If investors apply a revenue multiple similar to Houlihan Lokey’s (roughly 4× trailing revenue), Lincoln International could be priced in the range of $2.5–$3.5 billion at IPO — though the final valuation will depend on the roadshow and market conditions at the time of pricing.
Why Rare — and Why Now
Investment bank IPOs are structurally uncommon. Most advisory partnerships prefer to remain private: earnings are distributed to senior bankers as compensation, headcount grows slowly with culture, and there is no pressure to hit quarterly EPS targets. Going public changes all of that — it creates a permanent capital base, a public currency for acquisitions, and an exit path for founding partners, but it also exposes the firm to stock-price volatility and activist shareholders.
The firms that have taken the leap, however, have largely justified it. Houlihan Lokey, which went public in August 2015, has grown its market capitalization to nearly $11 billion. Evercore, which listed in 2006, has reached roughly $12.7 billion. The compounding power of a recurring advisory fee stream — particularly one tied to private equity sponsor activity, which is structurally insulated from short-termism — has proved attractive to long-horizon investors.
Lincoln International’s timing is deliberate. The Federal Reserve has paused rate hikes for over 16 months at 3.50–3.75%, stabilizing financing costs and making leveraged buyouts more predictable. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan all reported strong investment banking revenues for Q1 2026, signaling that the M&A deal cycle is clearly in motion. Bankers who advise other companies on IPO timing know better than anyone that windows open and close quickly — and this one appears open.
What Investors Will Watch
When the final prospectus is filed and the roadshow begins, several details will be closely examined:
- Use of proceeds: Is Lincoln primarily raising primary capital for growth, or providing liquidity to existing partners? The answer affects future earnings dilution.
- Revenue per managing director: The fundamental productivity metric for advisory boutiques. Firms at comparable scale typically target $5 million+ per MD annually.
- Private equity concentration: What share of revenue comes from a handful of large sponsors? High concentration is common in mid-market advisory but represents a key risk.
- Post-IPO governance: How managing directors are compensated and when lock-ups expire will determine whether the human capital that built the franchise stays after the offering.
Sources
- Sharecafe — Lincoln International Files for US IPO Amid Market Rebound (April 25, 2026)
- Lincoln International — Official Company Website
- StockAnalysis — Evercore (EVR) Financials
- StockAnalysis — Houlihan Lokey (HLI) Financials
- Yahoo Finance — Moelis & Company (MC)
- Yahoo Finance — Lazard (LAZ)
Disclosure: This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed before publication. It is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.