UPS May Help IPO Market Break Records

This week’s initial public offering market is on track to hit new zeniths if deals on the calendar, including heavyweights United Parcel Service Inc. and Charter Communications Inc., come to market as planned. About 26 stock issues are tentatively set for this week and expected to raise $8 billion--which would be a new weekly record for domestic proceeds raised, according to Thomson Financial Securities Data. In addition, if UPS offers 109.4 million shares at the enhanced prices it is seeking, it will also enter the record books as the largest U.S. initial public offering ever, beating the previous titleholder, Conoco Inc. The world’s largest privately held package delivery firm could raise as much as $5.36 billion through this week’s deal--overwhelming the $3.96 billion Conoco raised in October 1998. On top of that, Paul Allen’s Charter Communications, the nation’s fourth-largest cable systems operator, could raise as much as $3.2 billion through its IPO of 170 million shares expected at the $17-to-$19 range.