Friday, February 20, 2009

SoCal Firms Waiting For IPO Market, Still

Think the IPO market is dead? Apparently, firms are still hoping the market will open up for initial public offerings, with 57 companies nationwide still in registration for an IPO, as of the end of December. According to numbers released recently by Ernst & Young, California led the nation in terms of companies in registration for an IPO, with eight companies seeking to raise $855 million on the markets. At least three Southern California technology firms -- Thousand Oaks-based Nexsan, Irvine-based TherOx, and Carlsbad-based AutoGenomics--are among the firms awaiting an opening in the public markets for an IPO. It remains to be seen how long those firms will stay in waiting for an IPO, however--according to the numbers, 16 companies withdrew or postponed their IPO last quarter, with another 14 companies dropping from the E&Y list due to being in the pipeline for more than a year.

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