IPO view Morgan Stanley tops underwriters for 2004

Morgan Stanley claimed the top spot in US IPO underwriting activity in 2004, jumping from fifth place the previous year, on high profile deals that included Google Inc. In a year that marked a major turnaround in IPO activity, the investment bank's work on Genworth Financial Inc, the year's largest initial public offering, and Google, the year's most anticipated, helped catapult it to the front of the pack as top underwriter for IPOs in 2004, according to market research firm Dealogic.
In total, Morgan Stanley served as lead bookrunner on 21 offerings that raised $7.3 billion this year, accounting for 16.8 percent of the total deal value. In 2003, Morgan Stanley ranked fifth, pulling in only six deals worth $975 million.
Goldman Sachs, last year's No 1, fell to second in 2004, leading 27 offerings that combined to raise $6.5 billion. The company led with 11 deals last year, worth $2.4 billion.
The two underwriters served as co-leads for the $2.9 billion spin-off of Genworth from parent General Electric Co in May.
Another key deal for Morgan Stanley included insurance company Assurant Inc's $2 billion offering, which priced in February. The bank also served as joint bookrunner with Credit Suisse First Boston on Google's $1.9 billion August IPO.
Goldman was the sole bookrunner on this month's $794 million offering from casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp and served as co-lead with J.P. Morgan for DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc, the filmmaker behind "Shrek 2" and "Shark Tale", which raised $933.8 in October.
It was a comeback year for IPOs as 228 US-based companies priced offerings and raised $43.5 billion in 2004, compared with 81 deals for $13.5 billion last year, according to Dealogic.
Rounding out the top five underwriters were Merrill Lynch at No 3 with 30 IPOs and 10.6 percent of total deal value; J.P. Morgan, whose 24 deals raised $3.8 billion; and Citigroup, who served as lead bookrunner on 20 deals worth $3.7 billion.
Combined, the top 10 underwriters in 2004 accounted for $38.1 billion in deal volume, 87.6 percent of the total.