New figures show that global flotation activity continues to slow. The Ernst & Young's first quarter Global IPO update says that a total of 50 flotations worldwide raised just $1.4 billion in capital between the months of January and March this year.
Only two deals raised over $100m.
This compares with 78 IPOs worth $2.6 billion in the previous quarter while a total of 251 flotations, raising $41.2 billion, were recorded in the first quarter of 2008.
The top three listings so far this year were by US consumer staples company Mead Johnson Nutrition, which raised $828m on the New York Stock Exchange. Chinese company ready Gold Mining raised $133m in Hong Kong and Saudi firm Eithad Atheeb raised almost $80m in Riyadh.
Data also shows that 37 planned flotations were postponed or withdrawn during the first three months of 2009, however the pipeline for the rest of the year remains 'robust'.
