That’s common practice. Most of the time, the shares are sold before the IPO to financial institutions at the list price to guarantee a certain volume of sale a

That’s common practice. Most of the time, the shares are sold before the IPO to financial institutions at the list price to guarantee a certain volume of sale and liquidity for the IPOing company. Those institutions expect a first day pop, so it’s common for the list price to be below the expected market price. It also looks better for the company if the stock goes up on day one. None of that maximizes cash to the company, but there are other considerations (and actors) in play.