2014 was the biggest year for IPOs since 2000

"Big companies weren't shy about going public in 2014.
"With 273 IPOs, 2014 was the most active period of issuance since 406 companies went public in 2000," noted the folks at Renaissance Capital IPO Intelligence. "It was the second year of uninterrupted IPO activity, up 23% over 2013, due to a doubling of biotech issuance."
According to Renaissance Capital, the health care sector led the way with a whopping 100 IPOs. Think biotech stocks.
"Despite the higher volume, health care proceeds rose just 2% over last year due to several large deals in 2013."
Tech issuance was up 22% year-over-year with 55 IPOs
"Proceeds of $85 billion, inflated by Alibaba’s $22 billion offering, were up 55% over 2013," Renaissance noted.
"While various global events, such as Russia’s incursion into the Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, caused nervousness in global markets, they largely failed to disrupt the US IPO applecart."
2014 is going down as the biggest year for IPOs since the dotcom bubble."
Source:  Business Insider, 18th December 2014