5 reports say IPO slump worsening

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

The capital markets that nourish startups have stalled, according to five separate reports that show slumps in initial public offerings, mergers and venture investments.

Leading the litany of gloom is a report from Renaissance Capital, an IPO tracking firm. It says only two companies went public worldwide during the first three months of 2009 - one a U.S. infant formula maker and the other a Chinese gold mining operation.

During the same period last year, 27 companies went public worldwide, Renaissance said.

A separate report from PricewaterhouseCoopers focused on the U.S. market for IPOs in 2008. It characterized U.S. IPO activity as "the lowest since the late 1970s."