KPMG finds flotation pipeline empty
Stock market flotations have virtually dried up, according to a survey by KPMG Corporate Finance.
The survey revealed the IPO route to market ‘is all but closed at present’, with only two trading companies joining the official list.
Only Pounds 2.84bn was raised in the third quarter of the year, the bulk coming from the listing of life assurer Friends Provident.
Neil Austin, head of new issues at KPMG, said: ‘The IPO market had virtually ground to a halt even before the tragic events in the US. Now the pipeline is empty.’
According to Austin, the increased uncertainty following the attacks meant investors would continue to ‘sit on their hands’.
He said it was impossible to predict the timing of any recovery: ‘What is certain is that the IPO market cannot just be switched back on.’
But the survey found a few established companies with strong reputations had found investor interest, the most successful being Orange, the telecoms company, which raised nearly Pounds 4bn earlier this year.
Links
Mergers – ‘The IPO market is dead’