Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Report: $3.72B Raised In 2006 IPOs

Dow Jones VentureOne is reporting this morning that there was $3.72 billion in 56 IPOs for 2006, the most IPO activity and largest total raised since 2004. 18 companies had initial public offerings in the fourth quarter, according to the firm, with an aggregate total of $1.23 billion raised in the quarter. In the area of mergers and acquisitions, Dow Jones reports that there were 75 M&A events with a total value of $7.30 billion in Q4, with the total for the year reaching $31.18B in 404 merger and acquisitions. The yearly total is roughly equivalent to 2005's 407 acquisitions. Technology companies saw the most M&A activity this year, representing 273 transactions and $19.33B in deals; the largest deal was the $1.65B acquisition of YouTube by Google. In the IPO category, health care companies dominated, with 28 deals and $1.36B in capital raised on the markets, followed by technology firms, with 20 IPOs and $1.95B raised, the largest number of technology IPOs since 2000.

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