Initial public offering

In financial markets, an initial public offering (IPO) is the first sale of a company's common shares to public investors. The company will usually issue only primary shares, but may also sell secondary shares. Typically, a company will hire an investment banker to underwrite the offering and a corporate lawyer to assist in the drafting of the prospectus.

Levels and flows

Global Initial Public Offerings reported by Thomson Financial (http://www.thomson.com/financial/investbank/fi_investbank_league_tablearchive_debt.jsp) ($ billion) (number of companies)

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• 2003: 55.115 (79) (Q4 2003 report)
• 2002: 64.039 (?) (Q4 2003 report)
• 2002 (US Issuers): 52,756.0 (116) (Q4 2002 report)
• 2001 (US Issuers): 38,272 (?) (Q4 2002 report)