Two Solar IPOs Planned for 4Q

The financial market hasn't recovered yet, so going public now seems a bit foolish. But some investors already believe there will be a healthy appetite for IPOs soon.

Mark Zanoli, managing director of investment banking at JP Morgan, said his bank is working on two solar IPOs slated for the fourth quarter of this year.

Speaking at Intersolar North America in San Francisco this week, Zanoli said he is seeing investors "running out of place to put money, and they will start to take risks. That means there is a mass amnesia of what happened in the fourth quarter last year, and thank God."

I caught up with Zanoli briefly after his talk and asked him about the two IPOs, and he didn't want to say much. He said the two companies make thin-film and crystalline silicon panels. They are not based in the United States or Europe.

How about Asia? "Most likely," he said coyly.

Incidentally, a Chinese polysilicon maker, GCL Solar Energy Technology Holdings, today withdrew its plan to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, citing poor market conditions.

Other investors also are seeing (hoping) for a return of IPOs. Steve Westly of the Westly Group in Silicon Valley said he expects to see a dozen IPOs in the next 12 months (see Earth2tech post).

Venture capital investing also is on the rise. Data from GTM Research showed that VCs pumped more than $1.2 billion into 85 startups in the second quarter of this year, compared with roughly $836 million into 59 startups in the first quarter.