IPO

Despite an insufficient market for new issues, Royal Wolf stepped into ASX with a good start, trading at 10 percent above its issue price, which valued the company at $203 million.

The company's initial public offering was only seventh this year. Uncertainty in the share market has limited the pipeline of floats, with shares down by 1.3 percent. Several initial public offerings of assets by private equity firms were either postponed or scrapped because investors refused to pay what the owners wanted.

A Melbourne based metals explorer, Fortis Mining (ASX:FMJ) expects to see its IPO (Initial Public Offering) close early before its December 1 expiry date.. The company opened its float offerings two weeks prior to raise $4 million at 20 cents per share.

Within four days of the IPO launch, two thirds of the shares on offer were allocated with Macquarie Banka and RBS Morgan rumoured to buy most of the IPO with $1.5 million worth each for clients.

Rail freight business, QR National, will be Australia's biggest Initial Public Offering (IPO) since the final Telstra (T3) sell off in 2006. The prospectus for the QR National float is scheduled to be released on October 10, with expectations of the company reaching the ASX top 50 by late November.

Queensland Coal has received a takeover bid that worth $4.85 billion from a consortium of coal miners which includes BHP Billiton (BHP) and Xstrata for its track network. The proposal has been made to trump a plan by the government of Queensland to float the coal and bulk freight assets of Queensland Rail by the end of 2010 under the banner of a new company named as QR National.

Wotif.com is a successful "last minute" online accommodation website that listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) last Friday opening strongly at $3.06, up $1.06 compared to the $2 issue price from the $172 million initial public offer (IPO). The share price closed the first days' trade at $3.32 - 66 per cent above the IPO price with almost 39 million shares traded. With the share price soaring, the market capitalization is now at $674 million. Also note that the original shareholders still hold 58 per cent of the company.

[GFF] Goodman Fielder Listed on the ASX today hitting the boards at $2.06 - up by 6 cents over issue price: Goodman Fielder listed on the Australian Stock Exchange at noon on Monday, with the food group's shares at a 6¢ premium to their issue price. The stock hit the boards at $2.06, well up on the $2 issue price. Goodman Fielder's initial public offer (IPO) raised approximately $2.12 billion from the issue of 1.06 million shares at $2 each.

More than two centuries ago, 24 brokers signed an agreement laying the groundwork for the New York Stock Exchange. Yesterday the exchange's 1366 members rebuilt that foundation.

They voted in favour of the NYSE's proposed purchase of Archipelago Holdings Inc, an electronic market based in Chicago, transforming the world's largest stockmarket into NYSE Group Inc, a publicly traded company.