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November 25, 2012

Week ahead:Facebook, volatile market still chill IPOs

By Steve Rothwell Associated Press

NORMAN — Making a killing on initial public offerings used to be easy.

At the peak of the technology boom, little more than a decade ago, a plentiful supply of companies vied to sell stock on the exchanges, and investors were assured mouthwatering returns.

These days, the deals are fewer and the returns more modest.

Companies are set to raise more than $45 billion through IPOs this year — the most since 2007, according to data provider Dealogic. But if you scratch the surface, there are signs that the market is less healthy than it appears.

Almost a third of the money raised in IPOs this year came from one deal, Facebook’s $16 billion offering in May, and the number of companies taking themselves public may end at a three-year low.

The pipeline, or backlog, of companies planning to sell stock is also thinning.

“It’s a reflection of the psychology of the market today. It’s not strong. It’s moderate to weak,” said Rob Lutts, chief investment officer at Cabot Money Management in Salem, Mass.

While 437 companies have filed for an IPO this year, 178 have withdrawn or postponed their planned listings, Dealogic data show.

The state of the IPO market matters beyond Wall Street. Besides giving investors the chance to buy into fast-growing parts of the market, offerings give companies the money to expand and hire workers.

Scott Cutler, head of global listings at NYSE Euronext, which runs the New York Stock Exchange, estimates that more than 90 percent of a public company’s employee growth comes after it has listed on an exchange.

IPO activity is dictated largely by the health of the overall stock market. Falling markets discouraging companies from going public.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 is up 11 percent this year, but the advance has been punctuated by sharp declines when investors fretted about European debt, the election and, now, a looming “cliff” of tax increases and government spending cuts.

“The general market has been real choppy this year. It really has,” said Sal Morreale, an institutional salesman at Cantor Fitzgerald in Los Angeles who tracks offerings.

Facebook’s calamitous market debut also put the brakes on IPOs.

The social networking site’s offering was the most keenly anticipated market debut at least since Google’s in 2004. But concerns about revenue from smartphone users spooked investors, and the offering was plagued by technical glitches.

The stock was priced at $38 and fell almost immediately, dropping as low as $17.55 on Sept. 4.

The negative publicity helped shutter the IPO market for more than a month until EQT Midstream Partners, an energy company, sold stock June 16. Companies including American Tire Distributors and Crosair, a computer memory company, were among those withdrawing their IPOs.

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