The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that stock markets are booming but the market for initial public offerings is dead. Guest columnist Tom Bradley writes that very few companies are being brought to market. Investors are suffering a hangover from the bust of the 2020-21 IPO boom. Most of those stocks are still trading below issue price. The trend toward passive investing has not helped either. The biggest factor by far is the growth of private markets. Well-capitalized private equity (PE) funds now give potential IPO candidates another option. They can stay private, for which there are many advantages. After scooping up most of the companies that might previously have gone public and taking many public companies private, PE managers now control the IPO market. They can turn on the tap in a heartbeat. The reason they have not is simple -- price. PE funds want more for their holdings than public investors are willing to pay, and public equity buyers want some upside too, as well as a discount that recognizes the risk they are taking a la 2020-21. If private asset owners are going to hit the public bid, they had better get started soon while conditions are favourable. The next few months will tell the tale.