The New York Times notes that the IPO market, which has been relatively muted for the past three years or so, may be in for a flood when all those private-equity-backed deals seek an exit. Which could be sooner than most people think. Will it be hard to absorb all those exits? I think so. So I think we'll see private equity firms do everything they can to avoid public offerings. We may see more break ups, strategic sales and sales to other buyout firms--a lot easier that way. We might even see more offerings in other countries. But for a lot of deals, an IPO will be the only real exit option, so the concern is a big one. Just as the deal-boom pushed equity prices higher, the exit wave just might hold it down.
For more:
- here's the article from The New York Times