It looked at one point last month that 2010 was going to see the return of lots of new issues to the market.
That is, companies hoping to float on the stock market. There were one or two of these floats I quite fancied but they were nearly all cancelled because of market volatility.
These included Travelport which would have been quite a big one. Also cancelled were New Look and Merlin Entertainment. Shame as they all looked like reasonable prospects.
However all of a sudden there are quite a few companies that look like they are going to go ahead with new listings.
Maybe because the market has been a bit smoother recently but whatever the reasons it looks like at last we are going to see some decent IPO action.
One to be listed very shortly is African Barrick Gold which is being spun off from Barrick Gold,a massive Canadian listed gold miner.
It is going to list its Tanzanian assets which will value it at around £2.4 bln which would definitely give it a place in the
FTSE 100 in June.
I like the look of this one: I would imagine tracker funds will have to buy in and can see the price pushing up nicely ahead of
FTSE entry. Of course it does carry some political risk.
Essar Group - one of India's biggest conglomerates is looking at listing its oil and gas operations in a predicted three million
dollar listing which would put it very close to entry into the FTSE 100 along with Barrick.
Essar says it will make a decision about whether to float or not in the next 6 weeks.
One company shortly to list that is also offering shares to the public at issue price is Supergroup.
It owns some "cool" brands, kids, including Superdry and Cult.
You can buy up to £13,000 worth of shares at the IPO price online - the offer to buy shares is open from March 15th through to March 22nd.
Finally Promeathean which makes interactive whiteboards for classrooms is expected to debut this month - it needs to raise funds to develop its products over in the US.
That certainly looks like an interesting one. Although the market for its products looks limited in the UK, apparently over in the US this is a much newer market. The size of this one should get it into the FTSE 250.
I reckon depending on price I might get involved in some or all of the above but a lot depends on market sentiment at the time of launch for these companies so I shall see.
But it is great
news to see at last, some
IPOS!!
I'd end with a caution: you ought to seek financial advice from an IFA before proceeding with any investment and I ought to point out I'm not one and my article is about what I might do. If you buy any of the shares, it's at your own risk, etc and in any event don't be tempted to play with money you can't afford to lose.