Exchanges pursuing IPO surge

NEW YORK – With the surging market for initial public offerings expected to pick up even more momentum this year, U.S. stock exchanges are actively campaigning to win these new listings.

The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. and New York Stock Exchange said the first quarter turned out to be one of the best on record for IPOs since the dot-com boom in 2000. There were 64 flotations that raised $12.1 billion during the period.

This followed a huge year for IPOs in 2006, when 236 deals raised $60 billion, according to the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Many analysts believe the balance of 2007 might be even more active than last year, when public offerings raised 28 percent more money than in 2005.

The NYSE and Nasdaq are doing everything in their power to capture more business and fend off international competitors who also hope to grab the IPOs.

“We partner with companies as they go through the process of transforming into a public company, and it can seem really daunting for some of them,” said William O’Brien, the Nasdaq’s senior vice president for new listings. “Getting new listings has a trickle-down effect on our entire business, it’s something we take very seriously.”