Withdrawn IPOs are far more common that most people think. Using a set of screens to reduce the universe of typical IPOs studied in the finance field, just over a third of intended IPO-seeking firms withdraw their filings and pursue other paths. The data below show the volume of withdrawn IPOs by year from 1998-2013. This is an incredibly important (and understudied) topic.
Boeh-data-IPO-Outcomes-1998-2011