Ritter Group Eyes Report Where Venture-Backed Acquisitions Break All-Time Annual Record

Ritter Group sees that in 2010 there was a move from "abysmal to viable" in the venture-backed IPO market. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) March 08, 2011 - Venture-backed company exit activity was driven by a record-breaking M&A market and the biggest quarter for IPOs since the third quarter of 2000. The fourth quarter ended with 32 venture-backed IPOs, more than double the number of IPOs seen during the third quarter of 2010. The quarterly volume was driven by 17 Chinese companies funded by U.S. venture capital funds that went public on US exchanges. For full-year 2010, there were 72 venture-backed IPOs, the biggest year for activity since 2004. Over 400 acquisitions were completed during full year 2010, the biggest year, by number of deals, for venture- backed M&A exits since records began in 1985.

Ritter Group sees that in 2010 there was a move from "abysmal to viable" in the venture-backed IPO market. The number of offerings has improved in large part due to Chinese venture-backed companies going public on U.S. exchanges.

The record acquisition level illustrates a recognition by larger corporations that there is considerable innovation within these venture- backed companies, while VCs and founders are acknowledging the acquisition as the smoother exit. However, volume is not the only important measure of the health of the venture exit market. We are pleased to see improvements in IPO performance and acquisition prices at the end of 2010 as well. We believe this momentum will continue throughout 2011.

There were 32 venture-backed IPOs valued at $3.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, almost three times the number of IPOs seen during full year of 2009. Seventeen of the fourth quarter offerings were Chinese based venture-backed companies. The offerings spanned a diverse set of industries.

Half of the 32 IPO exits for the quarter were outside of Information Technology and Life Sciences, accounting for a total of $1.7 billion. Beijing, China-based SinoTech Energy, Ltd. (CTE), a provider of enhanced oil recovery services, was the largest offering outside of technology and life sciences, raising $167.8 million on NASDAQ.

FleetCor Technologies (FLT), a provider of credit card processing solutions for the business fleet marketplace based in Norcross, Georgia, began trading on December 15th and raised $291.5 million, marking the largest venture-backed IPO of the quarter.

For the full year 2010, 26 number of companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and 46 listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

Ritter Group looks forward for the continuation of 2011 Venter Capital market and believes that 2011 as a whole will be even better than 2010 in terms of Venture Backed IPOs and M&As.

###

space

Other Related Press Releases