By David A Westenburg and Timothy Gallagher
The first three months of 2002 produced 17 IPOs with gross proceeds of $9.33 billion. In comparison, the first quarter of 2001 produced 20 offerings with gross proceeds of $8.21 billion and the final quarter of 2001 produced 29 offerings with gross proceeds of $12.16 billion.
Reflecting the number of large, well-established companies and spin-offs coming to market, NYSE listings represented 59% of the quarter's IPOs and 91% of proceeds. Spin-offs have continued to remain popular in 2002 with Travelers Property Casualty Corp (the insurance unit of Citigroup Inc.) and Alcon Inc. (the eye-care unit of consumer-products giant Nestlé) together accounting for 66% of gross proceeds.