IPO activity 'set to rise' during 2008

News Article - Monday, December 17, 2007

filed under: Business

An increasing number of companies will become public during 2008, a new report has claimed.

Accountancy firm Ernst & Young found that $225 billion (£127 billion) was raised globally through initial public offerings (IPO) in 2007, commenting that the figures assured a healthy global market.

Over the course of next year, an additional $18 billion is expected to be generated through businesses becoming public, according to the report.

Reported in Reuters, Gil Forer, global director of IPO initiatives at the firm, said: "The increased activity across the emerging markets stem from the growth of their economies and the ongoing globalisation of the capital markets."
The majority of top 20 IPOs went public in their home countries, he added.

Mr Forer explained that unlike the developed world where the volatile financial market slowed activity, the emerging markets ensured that IPO figures remained robust.

PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that the largest IPO during the third quarter of 2007 was on the prime market of engines and propulsion systems supplier Deutsche Borse, Tognum AG. The firm raised €1,800 million (£1286 million).

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