Only eight venture capital-backed companies filed IPOs in the third...

Only eight venture capital-backed companies filed IPOs in the third quarter, and 74 companies were acquired or merged, according to a National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Financial survey. That's compared with 19 IPOs and 91 companies merged or acquired in the previous quarter and 19 IPOs and 98 companies acquired or merged in the third quarter 2005. For the first nine months of 2006, there have been 37 IPOs and 269 venture-backed mergers or acquisitions.