October IPOs A Treat

November 5, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) -If only for a month, initial public offerings (IPOs) made a sweet comeback in October.

Eight U.S. initial public offerings raised a total of $4.2 billion in October, the best month since June’s 14 IPOs raised $11.4 billion according to CBS MarketWatch, citing data from Dealogic CommScan.

October’s IPOS also gained 15% on average in first-day trades and are still trading an average of 12% above their offering prices. By way of comparison, the year’s average pre-October IPO gained 12& on its first day — and has since fallen 8% below its offering price.

Star performers in October were the $1.7 billion Anthem IPO, trading about 16% above its asking price, and the $1.9 billion IPO from Principal Financial Group, which has gained 22%.

According to the report, there are 53 IPOs in backlog aiming to raise $9.8 billion. Eighteen of those are in the health care arena, hoping to raise $1.6 billion.

– Nevin Adams                  editors@plansponsor.com

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