Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Initial public offerings are off to the slowest start this year in at least a decade as the recession and stock market rout deter investors.

No company raised money in an initial public offering on the New York or London stock exchanges in January, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Hong Kong-based Strong Petrochemical Holdings Ltd. and Indonesia’s PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya led companies that sold $91 million of stock in IPOs last month, less than 1 percent of the $8.7 billion companies raised in January 2008, the busiest-ever start to a year, the data show.

Companies are struggling to lure investors as the credit crisis pushes the world’s largest economies into recession. The International Monetary Fund last week cut its estimates for global growth in 2009 to 0.5 percent, the slowest since World War II. Stock market volatility has also increased, deterring money managers from buying stock. The VIX, or Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, touched a high of 55.7 last month, more than double the level of January 2008.

“The current crisis is one of the most difficult we’ve ever seen,” said Gil Forer, global director of IPO initiatives at Ernst & Young LLP in London. “We don’t expect to see a change of trend in the first half.”

No company has raised money in an IPO in New York since Grand Canyon Education Inc. raised $145 million in November. In London, share sales on the Alternative Investment Market, the market for smaller companies, have halted.

Lima, Dubai

Exchanges from Lima to Dubai are expecting a slowdown in IPOs this year. The Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority, the United Arab Emirates’ market regulator, is expecting “few” IPOs this year, Chief Executive Abdullah al- Turaifi said in an interview last week. IPOs in Peru may drop by almost half to 15 this year from 2008, Lima Stock Exchange Chairman Roberto Hoyle said in an interview last month.

Companies may be forced to find ways to cut costs, raise money from existing investors, or seek new sources of revenue instead of going public, Forer added. Among companies reorganizing is yacht-maker Ferretti SpA, whose owner Candover Investments Plc had planned to take public last year. Candover hired Rothschild last month to advise on options for Ferretti after the Forli, Italy-based company breached its banking agreements.

Strong Petrochemical, an oil product trader in China, raised $32.2 million in the biggest IPO this year. Meanwhile, Mead Johnson Nutrition Co., the world’s biggest maker of infant formula, is seeking as much as $690 million of IPO this month in what would be the first U.S. IPO since November.

Companies raised a total of $87.4 billion in IPOs last year, about 30 percent of the amount raised in 2007, a record year, Bloomberg data show.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elisa Martinuzzi in Milan at emartinuzzi@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 2, 2009 11:33 EST