The market for initial public offerings remained moribund in the first half, but there were some signs of recovery in the second quarter, according to the latest data from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

PwC reports that there were only 14 IPOs that raised US$2.3 billion in the first half, a significant drop from the 43 offerings that generated US$27.7 billion for the same period in 2008 (although last year’s data includes the largest U.S. IPO in history, the US$ 17.9 billion Visa Inc. offering).

Despite the year over year weakness, PwC notes that on a quarter-over-quarter basis, there was an increase in IPO activity in the second quarter, the first such increase since the fourth quarter of 2007. The downward trend in IPO volume started in the first quarter of 2008 and reached its lowest point in the first quarter of 2009, it said.

In Q1 2009, only two IPOs that raised US$722 million. The second quarter saw 12 IPOs that raised US$1.6 billion, compared with 18 IPOs that raised US$5.1 billion in the second quarter of 2008.

“A few select companies were able to take advantage of the capital markets which started to improve in late March,” said Scott Gehsmann, a capital markets partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ transaction services practice. “As we move toward the later part of the year, we will see more companies testing the IPO waters.”

China was the only non-U.S. issuer in the first half, as it had four offerings that raised US$300 million in proceeds. There were 11 non-US IPOs during the same period in 2008, raising US$1.6 billion.

The NYSE continued to lead in deal volume with 11 IPOs raising US$2.0 billion, 88% of the total proceeds raised during the first six months of 2009.

Similar to the U.S., global IPO activity saw modest growth in the second quarter of 2009, PwC said. In Europe, 28 companies went public in the quarter, raising US$0.8 billion, but that paled in comparison to the second quarter of 2008 when there were 133 offerings raising US$18.3 billion.

“Stronger second quarter IPO activity bodes well for the second half of the year,” noted Gehsmann. “In fact, a number of companies have already begun to assess their IPO-readiness in preparation for the inevitable return of the IPO market.”

IE