Lincoln International, Inc. is seeking to go public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “LCLN,” offering 21.05 million shares of Class A common stock at an expected price range of $18.00 to $20.00 per share. The offering consists of approximately 20.60 million shares being sold by the company and approximately 446 thousand shares being sold by existing stockholders, implying an estimated deal size of roughly $400 million at the midpoint pricing of $19.00 per share, excluding any overallotment option. Based on the post-offering share structure outlined in the prospectus, Lincoln International would carry an implied market capitalization of approximately $1.94 billion at the midpoint of the proposed range. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are serving as joint lead book-running managers, alongside BMO Capital Markets, Citizens Capital Markets and Evercore ISI.
Founded in 1996, Lincoln International has evolved into one of the largest independent investment banking advisory firms focused on the private capital markets ecosystem. The firm provides a diversified suite of advisory services spanning mergers and acquisitions advisory, capital advisory, private funds advisory, valuations and opinions, restructuring advisory and strategic consulting. The company primarily serves private equity firms, founder-owned businesses, private credit providers and institutional investors across the middle market and broader private capital landscape.
The firm has established particularly strong positioning within sponsor-backed advisory work. According to Mergermarket, Lincoln International ranked as the #2 global sell-side advisor for private equity transactions over the three years ended December 31, 2025. Management believes the company’s integrated global platform, sector specialization and long-standing private equity relationships have allowed it to consistently gain market share as the broader private capital markets industry has expanded.
Lincoln’s platform has grown significantly over the past decade through a combination of geographic expansion, senior banker hiring, recurring revenue diversification and strategic acquisitions. As of December 31, 2025, the company employed approximately 1,455 professionals globally, including 159 managing directors, operating from more than 30 offices across 14 countries throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
The company’s advisory model is intentionally diversified across both transactional and recurring revenue streams. While mergers and acquisitions advisory remains the largest business line, Lincoln has increasingly expanded into recurring and less cyclical businesses such as portfolio valuations, fairness opinions, private funds advisory and strategic consulting. Management highlighted that non-M&A revenues have grown materially over the last decade as the firm has expanded beyond traditional sell-side advisory work.
One of the company’s most significant strategic moves came through the acquisition of MarshBerry, completed on October 31, 2025. MarshBerry is a specialized advisory and consulting platform focused on the insurance brokerage and wealth management industries and has been recognized by S&P Global Market Intelligence as the leading M&A sell-side advisor in insurance brokerage since 2022. Lincoln believes the acquisition materially strengthens its position within financial services advisory while adding recurring consulting and relationship-driven revenue streams.
The company has also aggressively invested in talent expansion and new advisory verticals. Since the beginning of 2024, Lincoln has added 31 managing directors laterally while significantly scaling its Private Funds Advisory practice. Management believes structural trends across private equity, private credit, continuation vehicles, GP-led secondaries and retail-oriented private market products continue to support long-term demand for independent advisory services.
Lincoln’s growth profile has accelerated substantially in recent years. On a pro forma basis, total revenues increased from approximately $578.7 million in 2024 to approximately $854.2 million in 2025, representing year-over-year growth of roughly 47.6%, driven in part by the MarshBerry acquisition as well as continued expansion across advisory and valuation services.
The company completed 321 investment banking advisory transactions during 2025 compared to 273 during 2024, while client revenue per managing director increased from approximately $3.9 million to approximately $5.3 million. Lincoln also performed more than 25,000 portfolio company valuations during 2025 and estimates that it valued approximately 32% of all U.S. private equity-backed companies during the year.
While GAAP profitability was impacted by acquisition and organizational transaction-related expenses tied to the MarshBerry acquisition and IPO reorganization process, adjusted profitability metrics remained relatively strong. Lincoln reported pro forma adjusted EBT of approximately $145.9 million for 2025.
Lincoln International enters the public markets during a period of improving sentiment toward IPO issuance and renewed activity across private capital markets. Publicly traded comparables include Houlihan Lokey, Evercore, PJT Partners, Moelis and Lazard, though Lincoln differentiates itself through its concentration on middle-market sponsor-backed advisory work, large-scale portfolio valuation capabilities and broad exposure to the growing private capital ecosystem.
Investors will likely focus on the durability of sponsor-backed transaction activity, the continued growth of recurring valuations revenue, the integration of MarshBerry, and the company’s ability to continue scaling globally while maintaining strong margins and partner retention.
The company will also debut with a controlled company structure, as the LILP Controlling Partners are expected to retain approximately 87% of the voting power following the offering through Class C shares carrying ten votes per share. While this structure limits outside shareholder influence, management argues it preserves long-term strategic alignment and continuity of leadership.
Overall, Lincoln International represents one of the larger and more institutionally-oriented financial services IPOs of 2026 to date, offering investors exposure to the continued expansion of global private capital markets, private equity transaction activity, private credit growth and the increasing demand for independent advisory and valuation services.
Lincoln International is expected to make its debut on the NYSE on Wednesday, May 20th.