But looking at this globally, uncertainty is such that companies are by and large hanging on to their cash.
Yesterday, Charles Stanley reported a profits warning that was triggered in part by a couple of revenue-earning IPOs they were involved in not going ahead. This is not an isolated case either.
Private equity fundraising also slowed during the past quarter, down a huge 45% compared to Q2 2011. Figures from Preqin show 97 private equity deals closing, with $44.8bn raised in Q3, compared to 175 deals raising $82.8bn in Q2.
Private equity-backed buyout deals and exits were also down in Q3, by 23%. In Europe, buyouts totalled $22.8bn in Q3, a 30% drop from $32.3bn in Q2.
The trend may be one of corporates having cash on their balance sheet, but managing this cash more cleverly and carefully is the order of the day rather than spending it on any cash-rich private equity deal or merger and acquisition.
This may be a high-profile theme that runs through the third-quarter company reports that are expected to start flooding in any day now.
