NEW YORK: There are hundreds of private technology companies waiting for the market for initial public offerings to open up, according to a JPMorgan Chase & Co global chairman of technology investment banking, with clarity on the US election expected to provide a shot in the arm for listing hopefuls.

“When we look at our analysis, we have about 750 quality companies in tech alone that want to get out,” Madhu Namburi said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

“Sixty to 70 companies go public in a normal year. That’s a lot of backlog.”

With the election in the rearview mirror, the market is showing signs of wanting to reward companies prioritising growth as opposed to just profitability, Namburi said.

On the mergers and acquisitions front, Namburi said megadeal activity has been soft, though transactions in the range of US$5bil to US$10bil have rebounded to pre-Covid pandemic levels.

Big-ticket transactions in technology have been impeded by protracted regulatory reviews lasting 12 to 18 months or longer, according to Namburi, which is something that he expects to change under the incoming Trump administration.

“The process should become more streamlined – that’s the expectation and the hope, which should get people more bold to start venturing back into these larger deals,” he said.

- Bloomberg