For cashed-up companies, the transport and building and materials sector could be the main areas of merger and acquisition (M&A) interest, especially for Australian businesses looking across the Tasman, Craigs Investment partners broker Peter McIntyre said.
"There's a wall of money looking to be invested,'' Mr McIntyre said.
He highlighted the availability of cheap funding, low interest rates and general outlook of New Zealand's economy, plus the likelihood of positives from trade sanctions being lifted off Iran, given it had once been New Zealand's fifth largest export market.
There were six new listings on the NZX in 2015, including two compliance listings, down from 12 main board IPOs and four compliance listings on the NZAX junior market a year earlier, including completion of the Government's partial privatisation programme with Genesis Energy's listing.
During the same period, Australia's ASX rolled out 77 new listings, up from 71 in 2014, BusinessDesk reported.
Mr McIntyre said M&A of New Zealand companies was more likely to come from Australia, or further afield from Asia, than domestically.
"Companies will be looking to explore the strength of their balance sheets,'' he said.
Citing overseas interest, he noted the Japan Post takeover of Toll Holdings in Australia.
In May last year, Toll Group's investors were offered $9.04 per share and voted overwhelmingly in favour to accept Japan Post's $6.5 billion takeover bid; Toll subsequently de-listing from the Australian Securities Exchange.
Japan Post, which had $29.7billion in annual revenue - more than three times Toll's revenue of $8.8 billion - planned to use the acquisition to take on the world's biggest global logistics groups, The Sydney Morning Herald reported at the time.
Mr McIntyre said New Zealand's building and material sector could be another another area of M&A interest.
He said Fletcher Building could be attractive as a takeover target, given its share price was consistently trading well below many of broker valuations.
Both Nuplex and SkyCity could also be of interest to overseas buyers, he said.
While there was M&A activity expected in New Zealand's busy aged-care sector, it was more likely to continue in the takeover of still private care companies as opposed to the larger listed companies, Ryman Healthcare, Summerset and Metlifecare, he said.
"Ryman and Summerset both own large landbanks and Metlifecare is quite Auckland-centric. They each seem to fill a niche position,'' he said.
Harbour Asset Management managing director Andrew Bascand told BusinessDesk he expects to see more IPO opportunities across the Tasman this year, with a greater number of companies ripe for listing.
"Even proportionally, it seems there is a deeper pool of companies owned by private equity for a start. Some are start-ups and others are turnaround situations,'' Mr Bascand said.
"In addition, the government sector in Australia has been very active in considering privatisation opportunities.
"The privatisation process in Australia is alive and well, whereas in New Zealand we seem to have hit the wall. There are many more things we could consider privatising in New Zealand, but there's no political appetite to do so at the moment.''
Mr Bascand said the market was "quite open'' for IPOs, but there did not appear to be that amount of activity here at the moment.
He said the property sector could see IPOs this year, and they would be welcomed if structured correctly.
Several companies last year signalled intentions to list on the NZX, but when global equity markets went through a turbulent period during the middle of the year, vendors' appetite to go public dimmed.
With 2016 under way, some of those firms that tried their luck earlier are thought to be considering a second attempt, including poultry producer Tegel Foods, equipment rental firm Hirepool, building supplies and distribution group Carter Holt Harvey and broadcaster Mediaworks.
Mr Bascand said some of the companies such as Tegel and Hirepool got brought up every year, but at the end of the day there was no interest in them.
The Australian newspaper this week reported Tegel could be the first listing of 2016.
New Zealand's biggest chicken producer, which is owned by Affinity Equity Partners, was considering an IPO late last year.
"Even though it's owned by private equity, it's a good, solid business,'' a source told BusinessDesk.
"It's shown good year-on-year performance for a long time, and there's no hockey stick being sold,'' a reference to aggressively rising revenue or profit forecasts at odds with earlier performance.
Hirepool's then-majority owner, Australian private equity firm Next Capital, abandoned plans last June for a $262 million dual-listing on the NZX and ASX after concern from institutional investors that on-market support for shares of the unprofitable equipment rental company would not be strong enough.
Hunter Powell Investments now owns 61% of Hirepool. Founders Sharon Hunter and Tenby Powell bought Hirepool with Goldman Sachs JBWere from Owens Group for $43 million in 2003.
Carter Holt Harvey, which told the market it was considering an IPO in August last year before canning those plans in September 2015, is also thought to be considering an IPO, and the company this month appointed chief executive Prafull Kesha and former Adelaide Brighton managing director Mark Chellew to its board.
Auckland-based Carter Holt was bought by Kiwi billionaire Graeme Hart's Rank Group for $3.31 billion in 2006.
Rank has since sold the company's forestry and farm land and its pulp and paper unit, leaving a smaller business focused on wood products and building supplies.
Mediaworks has been touted as another potential listing candidate, though an investor said the market should "definitely be very dubious'' about a Mediaworks IPO as the company had a number of issues to work through.
A smaller company likely to come to market this year is technology incubator Powerhouse, which is raising $15 million of new capital over the next six months as a precursor to a planned IPO and dual listing on the NZX and ASX in July-August.
Chief executive Stephen Hampson said it was hoping to raise around $3 million in a crowd-funding bid on Snowball Effect, and a further $12 million from institutional investors before the IPO.
He said it would be difficult establishing the value of Powerhouse as none of the companies it had incubated and invested in had yet been sold or listed.
The measure of its success would rely on any improvement in the aggregate value of the portfolio companies, based on new third party funds they had raised.
