投資者可能仍在期待著下一家蘋果或者谷歌的上市，不過今年他們的選擇可能不多了。

合并與收購研究公司Dealogic表示，今年美國的首次公開募股（initial public offerings, IPO）是2009年以來最不理想的一次。今年的前7個月中，54家美國公司進行了IPO，共籌得115億美元，而去年同期有118次IPO，共籌得229億美元。

出現這一現象的部分原因，在于新IPO的重要來源：私人股權機構開始越來越多地選擇把公司賣給戰略投資者，而不是公開上市。這些公司似乎擔心在不穩定的市場行情中，他們能否通過公開市場獲得更大回報。考慮到今年只有兩家公司在IPO后股價有所提升，這種焦慮似乎得到了證實。他們分別是科技公司Twilio和Line，IPO后首日的股價在交易截止時分別上漲了近92%和27%。

與此同時，私人公司也看到了繼續私有化的優勢：他們不必經常回答監管機構、激進投資者和股東的問題。此外，一些私人公司不必上市就能得到可觀的資助，而想要上市的公司也會同時考慮合并和收購。作為回應，有些公司會得到難以拒絕的收購要約。

這其中就包括信息安全公司Blue Coat System，他們放棄了6月的IPO計劃，以46.5億美元的價格被賽門鐵克收購。Petco Holdings也同意以46億美元出售給了私募股權公司CVC Capital Partners和加拿大退休金計劃投資委員會（Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board），隨后放棄了2月的上市計劃。

實際上，但PE把自己賣給其他私人公司，在今年也算不上是新潮流。安永指出，截至2015年底，當年IPO的數量與2014年基本一致——盡管PE支持的交易規模有所降低。隨著公司開始觀望混合經濟，更加注重風險規避，IPO的規模從2014年PE轉售總值的近25%下滑到了2015年的14%。

與此同時，2016年也是科技公司合并與收購的大年，目前的成交價值已經達到了3,940億美元，在科技界的并購史上排名第二。

未來可能還會有更多并購發生。私人股權領域的“干粉滅火劑”（dry powder），即可用于交易的現金量，在過去幾個季度中不斷攀升。研究機構Preqin的數據顯示，到今年6月底，現金量已經達到了歷史新高的8,180億美元。現在的問題只在于這些資金將在何時流向何處。

從市場整體來看，這可能是個好消息。不過如果你想在投資組合里添上幾家漲勢喜人的新公司，選擇的余地恐怕就不多了。（財富中文網）

譯者：嚴匡正

Investors might be waiting for the next Apple or Google or even Facebook to go public—but they’re unlikely to have many to choose from this year.

This year has been the slowest for U.S. initial public offerings since 2009, according to mergers and acquisitions research firm, Dealogic. Fifty-four U.S. IPOs have raised $11.5 billion in the first seven months of this year—down from the $22.9 billion raised through 118 deals through the same period last year.

That’s partially because private equity firms, a key source of new IPOs, are increasingly selling their companies off to strategic investors rather taking them public. PE firms appear to be worried about whether they’ll be able to gain higher returns in the public space amid volatile market conditions. That anxiety is likely justified, given that just two IPOs have priced above range this year. Those two being tech companies Twilio, which closed up nearly 92% on its first day of trading, and Line, which closed up 27% from its IPO price.

Meanwhile private companies are also seeing the upside of staying private: No more answering constantly to regulators, activist investors, and shareholders. Additionally, not only are some private companies receiving sound funding without a listing, companies contemplating going public are also thinking about a merger or acquisition at the same time. In response, such companies are also receiving takeover offers they can’t refuse.

That includes Blue Coat System, a cybersecurity firm that abandoned its IPO plans in June to sell itself to Symantec for $4.65 billion. Petco Holdings also withdrew plans to go public in February, after agreeing to a $4.6 billion acquisition by CVC Capital Partners and Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.

Private equity firms selling their companies to other private entities is not exactly a new trend this year—Ernest and Young noted by the end of 2015 that the number of IPOs that year were in line with 2014 numbers—though private-equity backed deals fell. IPOs shrank from nearly a quarter of total private equity exit value in 2014 to 14% in 2015, as the firms took stock of a mixed economy and more risk aversion.

?Meanwhile, 2016 has been the year of tech company mergers and acquisitions, with $394 billion worth in tech deals thus far? making this year the second largest in history for tech takeovers.

And it’s likely more is to come. The private equity industry has been growing its pile of “dry powder,”—cash available to do deals—over the past few quarters. That grew to a record $818 billion by the end of June, according to Preqin. Now it’s a matter of when, and where, those funds will go.

That’s probably good news for the market in general. But if you were looking for a few new growth companies to flesh out your portfolio, it’s likely to continue to be slim pickings.