| Slower, But More Money Raised
That compares with 19 new stock listings in the first quarter of 2001, totaling $8.3 billion. While volume was slightly below traffic seen in 2001, proceeds raised outpaced last year's mark because of mega-deals that occurred late in the quarter. Still, that is no match for what occurred during the height of the Internet hey-day. During the first part of 2000, underwriters priced 140 transactions, totaling $32.1 billion. Based on our research, the record for first quarter stock issuance occurred in 1996 when 150 IPOs were brought public. The sizeable drop off in the number of underwritings has prompted many of the Street's investment banks to downsize equity capital markets staff. Underwriters that have suffered the most have been technology underwriting specialists such as Robertson Stephens and Thomas Weisel Partners. For example, during the period beginning with the first quarter of 1999 and ending by Dec. 2001, the FleetBoston Financial subsidiary steered 78 firms to market, totaling $49 billion in proceeds. Fast forward to 2002! Robertson Stephens, one of the highly respected underwriting houses, failed to lead manage an IPO during the first portion of 2002. Even on a co-managed basis, Robertson Stephens didn't participate in an offering. That doesn't count underwriting or selling group participations because Robertson Stephens was one of many managers to participate in the $3.9 billion float from Travelers. To date, the tech specialist has one deal scheduled to debut in the early part of the second quarter and comes from R2 Technology (ticker: RTWO). U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray is serving as joint lead manager on the $50 million transaction. Hopefully, as investor confidence and an improving economy continue to dominate the headlines, the times will be brighter for the folks at Robertson Stephens and other technology mavens. Regional Powerhouses Still, while deal flow remained at levels not seen since 1982 when 16 entities priced respective IPOs, the accelerated pace of new filings towards the end of the period reinforces the theory that there will be an increasing number of transactions to come. Last year, IPOs underwritten by regional investment banks did amazingly well and that has prompted issuers to follow that pattern in 2002. For example, shares of Monolithic Systems Technology (ticker: MOSY), which were underwritten by A.G. Edwards in 2001, enjoyed strong success in the market, posting an aftermarket rise of 106% last year. Initially, Monolithic Systems planned on utilizing JPMorgan Securities to lead its underwriting. Of the filings, names such as highly respected investment banking firms William Blair and Morgan Keegan popped up as lead managers. While they've become infrequent players in the lead management of initial public offerings, those firms are household names and deserve recognition on the Street.
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