Surprise of the week: IPO activity down

New figures came out recently from Ernst & Young on global IPOs. As might be expected, not many companies are trying to raise money by going public these days. About $1.4bn was raised from 50 IPOs in the first quarter of 2009, down an astounding 97 per cent from last year, when $41.2bn was raised from 251.

There were only two IPOs in the Middle East in the first quarter, which together raised $83.6m (one of those deals, Etihad Atheeb Telecommunications Company in Saudi, accounted for $80m of that). That's down from $3.98bn in the same quarter last year on 13 IPOs, a decline of 79 per cent.

The operative word here: ouch. Commentators and power-brokers of all stripes have for years been touting IPOs of regional family conglomerates as a major source of new capital for the region's budding stock markets. Stock offerings have also been put forth as a way to juice up volumes, thus making markets more liquid.

That dream hasn't died, but it has certainly suffered a setback. Not only is IPO activity way down, but regional IPOs made up a smaller share of global IPOs than they did last year: 5.7 vs 9.7 per cent. Here's hoping for a better Q2.