Article: Cash-hungry firms sit on the sidelines; Only a trio go public in bleak year.(successful companies forced to put initial public offerings on hold)

At Lansa Inc. in Oak Brook, President John Siniscal has a vision: to take his firm to $100 million in annual sales, considered the entry point to the big leagues of software development. To get there, however, Mr. Siniscal needs new capital.

With steady profits and a 20% annual growth rate that lifted revenues to $40 million last year, Lansa would have looked like a prize catch to underwriters of initial public offerings (IPOs) only 18 months ago. But the window for new offerings has slammed shut since then, with little prospect for a reopening soon.

``We could grow a lot faster if we had an infusion of more money, which is why we'd like to do an IPO. ...

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