Changes

*Seventy-seven venture-backed initial public offerings (IPOs) raised $9.4 billion in 2015, marking a 40 percent decline in dollars raised compared to 2014, according to the Exit Poll Report by Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). *For the fourth quarter, 16 venture-backed IPOs raised $2.2 billion, an 18 percent increase compared to the total dollars raised during the previous three-month period and up slightly compared to the number of offerings listed during the third quarter of 2015. *Ninety-one venture-backed M&A deals were reported in the fourth quarter, 26 of which had an aggregate deal value of $3.6 billion, decreasing 48 percent compared to the third quarter of this year. *For full year 2015, 372 M&A transactions were reported, with 84 deals combining for a disclosed value of $16.3 billion, the slowest full year period for venture-backed M&A since 2009. *There were 16 venture-backed IPOs valued at $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015.*By number of deals, quarterly volume was up slightly compared to the third quarter of 2015 but registered an 18 percent increase, by dollars, compared to the previous quarter.*Led by biotechnology companies, eight of the 16 offerings during the quarter were life sciences IPOs, representing half of the total listings in the fourth quarter.*By location, 13 of the quarter’s 16 IPOs were from U.S.-based companies. [http://nvca.org/pressreleases/seventy-seven-venture-backed-companies-went-public-in-2015/ NVCA]