Second quarter IPO activity continued to build on the momentum from the first quarter raising more than $21.0 billion via 71 IPOs, a report from PricewaterHouseCoopers explains.
This is the highest second quarter in terms of volume and value since 2000 when 98 IPOs raised $33.3 billion. Driving second quarter activity was financial sponsor-backed IPOs which contributed over half of the quarter’s IPOs and generated more than 60 percent of total proceeds. The Blackstone IPO, the largest offering, contributed 20 percent or $4.1 billion to total value.
“After a robust first and second quarter, first half results surpassed those of 2006, representing 56 percent and 65 percent of total 2006 volume and value,” says Scott Gehsmann, a capital markets partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Transaction Services group.
The five largest deals, each with proceeds north of $1 billion, accounted for 46 percent of total proceeds. This is a huge jump from 1Q 2007 when the top five accounted for 34 percent of value and a slight increase from 41 percent in 2Q 2006. Two of the top five offerings were financial sponsor-backed, representing 25 percent of the second quarter’s proceeds.