Another small sign that the worst of the recession may be behind us: IPO registrations are clawing their way back from the shadow of the valley of death (also known as the first quarter if 2009, when there were zero IPOs registered with the SEC). So far in July and August alone there have been 14 IPOs, as many as in the previous three quarters combined. These numbers and the chart above are based on the number of IPO filings tracked by Hoovers as of yesterday. Renaissance Capital counts 16 IPO registrations in July and August, and if you look on the SEC’s Edgar site it looks like a few more filed today.
Registering for an IPO doesn’t mean that the company is actually going to go through with it, but the volume of filings is a good confidence index for startups. Most of the companies filing are not technology-related (Hyatt Hotels, RailAmerica, Bayview Mortgage Capital), although Ancestry.com did file on August 3. In terms of actual IPOs, we saw five venture-backed companies start trading in the second quarter, including OpenTable, which is still trading above its $20 offering price.
All this means is that more companies are willing to take a shot at going public, which is encouraging in and of itself. But don’t expect the actual number of IPOs to recover for at least another year.
VC Alan Patricof was on CNBC this morning and described IPO exit a bit:
“I think realistically can’t count on the public markets anymore. With Sarbanes Oxley and with the changing nature of all the underwriters who used to bring all those companies public…”
http://www.cnbc...0196&play=1
Worth watching.
Really good post. Thanks for sharing
lol @ “Another small sign that the worst of the recession may be behind us”
“small sign” & “might be” – I think Erick hedged pretty well. Also, when over likely won’t feel like its over. As Patricof said this morning, going forward its “have to haves” not “nice to haves”. Things will likely be sluggish/tight for a long time.
Great article but if the number of public offerings in registration is 16 – 19, how can we say that the actual number of IPOs won’t recover for at least another year? Once you’re registered, the process takes much less than a year unless the capital markets collapse.
A company can file and sit around for 9 to 12 months easy.
True enough. We don’t have to count the chickens until they hatch.
I just think that if companies in registration thought that the markets were likely to turn against them, they wouldn’t register. It’s an expensive process that involves plenty of disclosures and limits other forms of marketing activity.
Let the crisis be over, plz!
The recession is far from over. We haven’t seen nothing yet.
Behind us? More like *maybe* ending. Behind us makes it sound like we’re looking back on it — it doesn’t seem that way at all.
the worst is behind us, but that doesn’t mean we are out of the woods yet (just out of the darkest part)
I think it’s rather silly to assume the worst is behind us. No one can authoritatively say that, not you, not Obama, not Paul Krugman, nobody!
Have you never heard of the Weimar Republic?
Get ready for the plunge of the dollar due to hyperinflation.
I think the Great Depression II has just begun.
Some say economic recovery is self fulfilling prophecy; when everyone thinks it will happen, it happens.
Erik +1
Trolls -1
i feel the recovery is here.
After this recession, companies need money money to survive or original VCs want out and one way to make that happen is have a liquidy event in the form of an IPO
Looks like recovery is coming at least for wall street, let’s see if main street follows.
The most interesting man in the world must have something to do with this. Some say he can end the recession and jumpstart the global economy…with just the loose change under his sofa.