2018 North American IPO activity was off to a slower start relative to 2017. The sharp increase in market volatility experienced in early February due to the expectation of rising interest rates, caused a few issuers to adopt a "wait and see" approach to IPO timing. Nevertheless, there remains a meaningful backlog of Canadian companies that are getting in a state of readiness to access markets as early as Q2 of this year.

Expectations for continued global synchronous growth, positive economic data, and a strong corporate earnings outlook despite the impact of rising interest rates and the potential for trade wars should support a constructive capital market environment with issuers and financial sponsors remaining optimistic about 2018 being another active year for IPOs.

Read more about key themes, who went public, and what we look forward to in the remainder of 2018.

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