Number of IPOs Soars in Fourth Quarter; M&A Activity Levels Off

Authored by dmw on January 3, 2007 - 11:43am.

San Francisco – The fourth quarter was the most active of the year for U.S. venture-backed companies looking for public market exits, with 18 initial public offerings (IPOs) raising a total of $1.23 billion, according to new figures from Dow Jones VentureOne.

For the year as a whole, companies completed 56 IPOs worth $3.72 billion, the most IPO activity and largest total raised since 2004. Despite the lofty IPO figures, however, there were just 75 exits via mergers and acquisitions during the fourth quarter, the fewest of any quarter last year.

"While M&A activity may have slowed a bit in the fourth quarter, this still remains the most viable option for venture-backed exits in today's market and the prices being paid for these start-ups throughout 2006 has been growing," said Steve Harmston, the director of global research for VentureOne.

Related Links:
http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/070102/111074.html
http://www.ventureone.com