Hopes of a rise in flotations of private equity-backed companies have proved unfounded so far this year, as market conditions and geopolitical risks have stymied activity.

A straw poll early this year of private equity executives and senior bankers identified a potential pipeline of private equity-owned flotations with a total enterprise value of $19bn, while a report by US IPO research company Renaissance Capital late last year talked of "an IPO trigger that could be pulled at any time".