The market for initial public offerings (IPO) was slow in the third quarter, but new IPOs waiting for the right opportunity to reach Canadian equity markets suggest that activity could pick up by the end of 2012, according to a quarterly PwC survey of IPO activity in Canada.
Just seven new issues, with a total value of $271 million, were recorded on all Canadian exchanges in the third quarter of 2012, the survey showed. There was a single IPO on the TSX during the period with a value of $212 million.
There were 20 new offerings on all exchanges during the same period of 2011 with a total value of $537 million, including four IPOs on the TSX worth $475 million.
In the first three quarters of this year, 39 IPOs were registered on all Canadian exchanges with a total value of $441 million.
Those figures are down from 2011’s first three quarters, when all Canadian exchanges registered 54 new equity issues with a value of $1.9 billion.
The slow pace of new issues could all change in the fourth quarter if a few of the current market roadblocks are cleared, according to Dean Braunsteiner, PwC national IPO services leader.
“There are some very significant IPOs in the pipeline that could revive the total IPO market and turn around the year, but it will require the resolution of some thorny issues beyond our borders,” said Braunsteiner.
“What is encouraging is the size of the IPOs we see coming, and the diverse nature of the issuers.”
"When we see issues planned for real estate, renewable energy and other sectors alongside activity from a rejuvenated mining sector, it is a sign of broader market strength. Even if some of those residual issues could be cleared and some form of stability returns to the markets, a more buoyant fourth quarter is still a possibility.”
