Four familiar names going public next week

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Starting next week, you could own a piece of the Empire State Building.

Or, if iconic New York skyscrapers aren’t your thing, you could bite into Potbelly, a sandwich chain with more than 280 shops.

Next week, these and two more companies with familiar names — the owner of budget-friendly clothing store chain Burlington Coat Factory and Re/Max, one of the country’s largest real-estate agencies — are expected to sell shares in initial public offerings.

A surging stock market is drawing investors to IPOs. This past week, 12 companies went public. That’s the most in one week since November 2007, said data provider Dealogic. And there have been 151 IPOs in the U.S. this year, up 47 percent from a year ago, said IPO research firm Renaissance Capital.

A more active IPO market signals confidence in the economy, because buying into IPOs is considered a riskier investment than investing in established companies. Companies that raise money in an IPO also can hire more people and make investments with the cash, helping support economic growth. And when IPOs gain in their first day of trading, that bodes well for other companies that may go public soon, such as automaker Chrysler and social- media company Twitter.

Investors are closely watching next week’s lineup. “Brand recognition will always foster additional attraction,” says Scott Sweet, a senior managing partner at IPO Boutique, which rates IPOs and invests in them.