The head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s equity capital markets business in the US has predicted the country could yield as many as 200 initial public offerings this year – welcome news for US-based ECM bankers looking to put a dismal 2009 for IPOs behind them.
Daniel Cummings said: "Approximately 90% of the IPOs that were priced in 2009 were in the latter half of the year. This year we anticipate a return to more normalised levels. Our expectation is that volumes will be a blend of the 2005 to 2007 timeframe and the number of US IPOs potentially in the 150 to 200 range."