IPOs sink without trace in 3Q amid uncertainty

SHANGHAI: With share prices and investor confidence taking a nosedive, initial public offerings (IPOs) have disappeared off the radar, with no companies going public on mainland bourses in October.

Only 30 domestic companies went public in the third quarter of 2008, down 60.5 percent year-on-year, and the total funds raised on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges dropped 86.5 percent year-on-year to $3.12 billion, according to Beijing-based investment research and consulting firm ChinaVenture.

Venture capital and private equity have also gone into hibernation. The money they pumped into promising Chinese companies in the third quarter of this year plunged 94.1 percent from $521 million a year earlier.