OREANDA-NEWS. On 11 April 2008 was announced, that Q1 2008 saw a marked decline in initial public offerings (IPOs) conducted by companies from Russia and other nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) compared with the same period in previous years, according to a research issued by The PBN Company.

In contrast to the four flotations completed in each of Q1 of both 2005 and 2006 and the five in Q1 of 2007, Q1 2008 had only two completed offerings, both of which occurred right at the end of the period.

"There has been a slowdown in IPO activity worldwide as the credit crunch has created an unfavourable environment for flotations," said Peter B. Necarsulmer, Chairman & CEO of The PBN Company.  "Russian companies were also concerned that the Russian presidential election in early March would overshadow a Q1 flotation.  With the question of the presidential succession now settled, the pipeline for forthcoming IPOs remains strong.

"Looking ahead, it is common knowledge that a significant number of companies have appointed advisors with the intention of preparing for an IPO.  However, it appears that many are aiming for a Q3/Q4 offering at best, in the hope that the investment environment will be more benign by then.  We do not expect to see much upturn in the remainder of H1.

"One side effect of this pause is that we expect to see an increase in interest in strategic stake sales and other M&A activity as companies seek alternative routes for growth or exit," added Necarsulmer.

The PBN Company recently published IPO Pioneers 3,a comprehensive review and analysis of all 33 Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh IPOs in 2007.  The report identified more than 85 Russian & other CIS companies that are believed to be considering flotations in the next 3 years.  It can be downloaded at www.pbnco.com.

The PBN Company was recently named joint winner of the "IPO Communications Advisor 2007" award at the Russian IPO Olymp Awards, organized by the Stock Market and Management Institute (IFRU).

About The PBN Company

The PBN Company is the leading strategic and financial communications and government relations consultancy with a focus on emerging markets.  Its IPO Pioneers series of research products, available on its website (www.pbnco.com), provides an annual in-depth survey of flotations by CIS companies. 

The company has offices in Almaty, Kyiv, London, Moscow, Riga, Sochi and Washington DC.  In 2007 The PBN Company advised on the IPOs of Bank Saint-Petersburg, Ferrexpo, M.video and MMK.

PBN's clients in the region include Alliance Bank of Kazakhstan, Arcelor Mittal, Baltic Beverages Holdings, Bank Saint-Petersburg, Basic Element, BP, Chagala Group, Citigroup, Dragon Capital, Enel, Ferrexpo, Horizon Capital, Knight Frank, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, M.video, Nordstream, Pepsi, Pharmacy Chain 36.6, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Renaissance Group, Rolf Group of Companies, Rosneft, Sberbank, Sony Pictures, Telenor and UkrEximBank.

In 2007 PBN was named Eastern Europe Consultancy of the Year by The Holmes Report and became a member of the WPP group of companies.