Both the number of companies and capital to be raised in registration in the U.S. continued to build in the third quarter, according to the quarterly Ernst & Young U.S. IPO Pipeline Report. The growing pipeline has the potential to deliver another outstanding year of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the U.S. markets.



"More companies filed to go public in the third quarter than the second quarter, in spite of market volatility. However, there were fewer actual IPOs than last quarter," said Maria Pinelli, Americas Director, Strategic Growth Markets, Ernst & Young LLP. "It's certain that U.S. exchanges will need an exceptional fourth quarter to top last year's numbers."

In 2006, 187 companies went public on U.S. exchanges, raising $34.1 billion. So far this year, 100 companies went public on U.S. exchanges, raising $21.7 billion.

The three most active sectors in IPO registrations in the third quarter were technology (32), pharmaceuticals (27), and oil and gas (19). Oil and gas companies filed to raise $6.5 billion, pharmaceuticals filed to raise $3.6 billion, and technology companies also filed to raise $3.6 billion. The utilities sector was also noteworthy - though only four companies are registered, the sector expects to raise $2.4 billion.

Within the U.S., more IPO registrants - 28 - came from California than anywhere else. New York and Texas also saw a significant amount of registrants, with 17 and 14, respectively.