PIPE Up

PIPE financings are on a tear this year. Through July 18, PIPE financings — PIPE stands for private investments in public equity — totaled 1,081, amounting to $24.7 billion. That more than doubles the $11.3 billion in placements earned during the same period last year and surpasses the total $23.0 billion in PIPE issuances recorded for all of 2005. Investment bankers say the instruments are going mainstream.