The slumbering market for initial public offerings shows signs of awakening, but experts can’t predict how long the grogginess will linger. Just two Washington companies have completed initial public offerings in the past 24 months: Seattle biotech Omeros and Bellevue insurance firm Symetra Financial.
The IPO drought in Washington state actually has been going on for some time. Over the past nine years, only 12 venture-backed companies have completed IPOs. That compares to 1999 — the peak of the dot-com bubble — when 14 companies went public. Most of the IPOs in the state occurred between 1995 and 2000 when a total of 49 companies completed public offerings.
Nationally, the outlook has been equally grim.
Since the beginning of 2008, 119 companies have conducted IPOs, according to Renaissance Capital's IPOHome.com. That compares to 272 companies that went public in 2007 alone.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Will the IPO market rebound?
Author: John Cook
