Lawyers for Facebook and its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, seen here, say a lawsuit claiming he developed the social media website with Paul Ceglia is fraudulent.Craig Ruttle/Associated Press
Canada's initial public offering drought is well publicized, with only a handful of sizable new companies going public of late. It appears the rest of the world is now looking more like Canada.
To be sure, a few big deals could substantially change the picture – Facebook, where are you? – but for now, IPOs are in the dumps. According to Thomson Reuters, global IPOs have totalled just $27.8-billion (U.S.) this year, a drop of 56 per cent from last year.
IPOs in the Americas are down 44 per cent, while the drop is worse in Asia, at 66 per cent.
China booked a big decline, as it seems like investors are catching on to the fact that IPOs in China are often aggressively priced, leading to poor performance out of the gate. Add to that a growing list of scandals around companies that are listed in North America with Chinese roots, and confidence is seeping away.