Right now the IPO market has come to a grinding halt. It will take at least two to three years for it to revive itself. The market will only get kick started when new underwriters begin to surface. These new underwriters will mostly likely take the form of smaller, boutique firms. Once that happens companies will then have sponsorship for their IPO’s. Then the IPO process begins. Companies must have their financial information audited for the last two years and file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That gestation period takes 12 to 18 months. Therefore, for the immediate future, do not expect to see many new IPO’s coming down the pipeline.

The only deals you will most likely see in the IPO arena this year will be those of established companies with billion dollar valuations like the 2008 Visa IPO. In the foreseeable future institutional investors will want very little risk associated with an IPO investment.

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