Hoover's IPO Scorecard Reveals Second Year-Over-Year Decline In New Offerings For 2008

Number Of U.S. IPOs In Second Quarter Decreased 77% From Same Quarter Last Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AUSTIN Texas - July 9, 2008 - Hoover's Inc. (http://www.hoovers.com) today announced the number of U.S. initial public offerings (IPOs) decreased 77% for Q2 2008 compared to the same quarter a year ago, as revealed in Hoover's IPO Scorecard (http://www.hoovers.com/ipo/scorecard). This follows on the heels of Q1 2008, which saw a 73% decline in new offerings compared to Q1 2007.

In Q2 2008, only 13 companies went public on the major U.S. stock exchanges, raising $4.2 billion, compared to Q2 2007 when 57 companies went public, raising $15.6 billion. So far this year, U.S. IPOs have raised $23.1 billion via 25 deals (Visa's Q1 2008 IPO represents $17.9 billion of this total), down 4% from the January through June 2007 period, when 101 IPOs raised $24.1 billion.

Findings from Hoover's IPO Scorecard for the second quarter 2008:

• Increased demand for food and agricultural commodities was apparent in the strong IPO performance of Intrepid Potash, the largest U.S.-based company that mines the essential potash fertilizer ingredient. The company's April IPO raised $960 million.
• Best First-Day Gain: Hong Kong Highpower Technology, Inc. 110%
• Worst First-Day Drop: Verso Paper Corp. -17%

"It's evident that investor concerns about subprime mortgage losses, rising oil prices and the slowing economy continued from Q1 into Q2, based on the small number of companies going to market and the lackluster aftermarket performance of a majority of them," said Tim Walker, Hoover's industry expert. "Although some are predicting a Q3 resurgence of the IPO market, several factors may stack the deck for a continued downward trend, including tighter credit markets, fear about a possible recession and the fact that we're in a presidential election year. Some IPO hopefuls, as well as investors, may wait to see what a new administration might bring before deciding to take the risk."

Best-Returning IPOs for Q2:

	Offer	Q2 Close	Return
Intrepid Potash, Inc.	$32.00	$65.78	106%
Hong Kong Highpower Technology, Inc.	$3.25	$4.84	49%
Colfax Corporation	$18.00	$25.09	39%
Pioneer Southwest Energy Partners L.P.	$19.00	$22.35	18%
American Water Works Company, Inc.	$21.50	$22.18	3%

Hoover's delivers comprehensive insight and analysis about more than 27 million private and public companies worldwide, as well as information about industries and the people you need to know. Hover's analyzes the IPO market daily to produce the quarterly IPO Scorecard. Each IPO Scorecard includes an assortment of facts selected by Hoover's editors for those following the IPO market, including the best- and worst-performing IPOs, the biggest one-day jumps and drops in the first day of trading, and a breakdown of IPOs by industry sector.

About Hoover's, Inc.

Hoover's, a D&B company, provides its customers the fastest path to business with insightful information about companies, industries and key decision makers, along with the powerful tools to find and connect to the right people to get business done. Hoover's provides this information for sales, marketing, business development, and other professionals who need intelligence on U.S. and global companies, industries, and the people who lead them. Hoover's unique combination of editorial expertise and one-of-a-kind data collection with user-generated and company-supplied content gives customers a 360-degree view and competitive edge. This information, along with powerful tools to search, sort, download and integrate the content, is available through Hoover's (http://www.hoovers.com), the company's premier online service. Hoover's is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

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