The US IPO market continued to flourish in Q2, with 91 IPOs both effective and projected, it is the strongest quarter over the last decade, and the third consecutive quarter where more than 70 IPOs went effective. According to EY's US IPO Pipeline Analysis, 91 IPOs have gone effective in Q2, raising approximately $23.1 billion in proceeds; 47% more than the 62 IPOs from the same quarter a year ago and +20 more than last quarter. Proceeds raised this quarter have surpassed last quarter's$11.9 billion and $14.8 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

"New IPOs continue to fuel a strong pipeline this quarter as capital is readily available," said Jackie Kelley, EY Global IPO Leader.  "PE and VC's are driving IPOs as they seize the opportunity to realize value for investors, confidence continues to build as the VIX® is now at the lowest level since the start of 2007, and with M&A hot again, companies have more options to exit. Dual tracking has become popular again."

The Q2 Review:

It was another hot quarter for healthcare and technology-with both rising to the top as the most active industries due to favorable market conditions for VC/PE exits. In the first half of 2014, almost three out of four healthcare and technology IPOs were either PE-or VC backed- that is 45 out of 63 healthcare IPOs and 24 out of 32 technology IPOs. Rounding out the top five sectors are the oil & gas, financial services and retail industries. In terms of proceeds, technology and oil & gas raised the most capital among all industries.

Drivers: 
Technology companies over the last five years have been streamlining operations, developing cash positive business models and throwing off cash. Debt markets have been friendly and innovation around the cloud and mobile is driving a lot of activity. The healthcare and life sciences industries have exploded recently with companies looking to become more specialized narrowing their areas of focus-a trend expected to continue for the foreseeable future. In financial services, smaller regional financial institutions and insurance companies found opportunities to raise capital. Oil and gas IPOs continue to be driven by limited partnerships.

A further breakdown of the 87 IPOs currently in the pipeline by sector shows that:

• 34 are in Health Care, raising $1.9 billion
• 18 are in Financial Services, raising $0.7 billion
• 8 are in Technology, raising $0.8 billion 
• 4 are in Oil & Gas, raising $2.1 billion
• 4 are in Professional Services, raising $1.1 billion
• 4 are in Utilities, raising $1.3 billion

Cross-border is back:
US exchanges continue to be the most attractive in the world and have dominated the market with 91 IPOs and $23.1b in proceeds. The proceeds were twice more than the second busiest exchange of London. Valuation was less favorable compared to the first quarter as investors exhibited signs of caution on whether or not the uptrend in the equity markets is sustainable. Only three US domiciled companies listed outside of the US for the first half of 2014 including: Margaritaville in Jamaica; Acucela Inc. in Japan, and e-TeleQuote in the UK.

"This quarter saw a comeback of cross border listings reaching their highest level since 2007," continued Kelley. "Ten Greater Chinese firms listed on US exchanges, raising more than $3.5b compared to only one in the first quarter.  Eight of the 11, or 73%, of companies listing on US exchanges are technology or internet-based companies."

Just recently, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced it would limit IPOs in China to around 100 in the second half of the year, which could encourage even more of the 700 Chinese firms in the IPO pipeline to consider a cross border listing.

Other countries listing on US exchanges in 1H 2014 include: 
UK 5 deals US$2.7b
Israel 3 deals US$0.2b
Canada 3 deals US$0.4b

VC and PE-Backed IPOs
PE and VC account for 60% of US IPOs with 54 deals and $18.3 billion in proceeds. The two top PE-backed IPOs were Ally Financial and IMS Healthcare. VC-backed IPO volume dropped in the second quarter compared to Q1. However, proceeds of $4.8b surpassed both Q1 and the second quarter of 2013.

Forty-one of the IPOs in today's 87-company pipeline are PE/VC-backed, which is more typical of historical trends. The market will continue to see PE/VC exits in the foreseeable future.

Year-over-year pipeline comparison chart:

*Q2 2014 figures are as of June 17, 2014. Number of IPOs that went public is projection for the quarter

"We're expecting the IPO market to remain hot as new IPOs continue to fuel the pipeline," concluded Kelley. "As the Fed has focused on keeping rates low and the tapering strategy will remain unchanged, barring any impact from geo-political shock, we expect this to be a banner year reaching levels we have not seen since 2004."