The number of initial public offerings in the second quarter of this year was more than triple that of the same period last year, according to a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The report found that 39 IPOs in Q2 of 2010 raised $5.1 billion, compared with 12 IPOs that raised $1.6 billion in Q2 of 2009. In addition, the U.S. IPO pipeline continued to increase, with an additional 68 companies registering new deals during the second quarter.
For the first six months of the year, IPO volume reached 66 deals raising $9.2 billion, versus 14 deals raising $2.3 billion in the same period last year.
While the number of IPOs was up in Q2, the second quarter witnessed a steady decline in the number of completed offerings each successive month, with 17 completed deals in April, followed by 11 in May and 10 in June. In May and June, 15 IPOs were either withdrawn or postponed, according to PwC.
Financial sponsors continue to provide leadership in the U.S. IPO market, according to PwC. The second quarter saw 32 of the 39 new deals raising $4.2 billion coming from financial sponsors, representing approximately 84 percent of total proceeds.
In terms of deal size, PwC expects small and mid-cap deals to continue dominating IPO volume. At the same time, a number of deals with offering proceeds in excess of $1 billion are expected during the second half of 2010. The volume and value of IPOs from foreign private issuers, particularly China, are also expected to grow during the second half of 2010, according to PwC. Foreign private issuers contributed a total of nine offerings raising $540 million during the second quarter, with China leading the pack with six offerings.
The energy sector led industry deal value with four IPOs raising $1.3 billion, while the technology sector contributed the majority of deals with 11 IPOs raising $778 million. The financial services, industrial and services sectors each contributed five deals, raising $1.2 billion, $520 million and $402 million, respectively.
