U.S. Leads 2012 IPO Race As Competitors Fall Back
NEW YORK--U.S. stock exchanges are set to repeat as global leaders in IPO capital-raising this year. But bankers might find little cheer in the tally, as global offerings fell sharply, and the U.S. market only narrowly topped last year's totals.</br></br>The value of initial public offerings on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market stood at $47.1 billion through Friday, the highest annual amount since 2007, according to Dealogic. But the number of deals is virtually flat from last year--144 compared with 146--and little if anything is left on this year's calendar.</br></br>Still, even without the $16 billion IPO from Facebook Inc.--fully one-third of U.S. IPO proceeds--the U.S. market would have raised more than double that of second-place China, which raised $14 billion this year. China was in a dead heat with the U.S. last year, and led all countries in 2010 in funds raised.</br></br>Japan joins the top three for the first time since 2004, raising $12.5 million, following Japan Airlines Co.'s $8.4 billion September IPO, the second-largest deal of the year globally. Hong Kong, which has ranked in the top three positions since 2001, raised $6.7 billion, sliding to the No. 5 slot for the year, even including People's Insurance Co. (Group) of China Ltd.'s $3.1 billion deal late last month.</br></br>"Amid headline risk and numerous very real issues, including the election, that tend to cause volatility, the U.S. market was generally constructive throughout the year, enabling a relatively broad range of types and sizes of companies to go public," said Matthew Sperling, head of equity advisory for North America at Rothschild, an investment bank and advisory firm.