Up to 14 US companies are trying to squeeze their initial public offerings (IPO) into the last full week before Christmas, giving rise to potentially the busiest week of the year by both volume and value.

If the deals go ahead, total volume this week could be as much as $1.8bn (€1.5bn). This follows last week's bulging timetable which saw seven companies launch in what was the busiest week so far this year by volume.