As you are well aware by now, the stock market plunged today on fears that the U.S. economy is slipping back into a recession and concerns about a debt crisis in Europe.

It was the biggest selloff in two years, with the Dow and the S&P 500 both declining by more than 4% and the Nasdaq falling by 5 percent.

I was curious how this year’s crop of VC-backed companies fared in the correction, so I took a look at the performance of 2011′s 10 largest IPOs of U.S.-based VC-backed companies. Given that I was expecting to find a bloodbath, I

Kosmos Energy plans to raise up to $500 million through an initial public offering, Reuters reported. Kosmos, which is backed by Blackstone Group and Warburg Pincus filed its plan with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company said Credit Suisse, Citigroup and Barclays Capital will underwrite the IPO. The filing did not specify how many shares will be sold in the offering.

(Reuters) – The private equity backers of oil firm Kosmos Energy are considering taking it public in either the U.K. or U.S., which could value the company at around $5 billion, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Kosmos, backed by private equity firms Warburg Pincus (WP.UL) and Blackstone Group LP (BX.N:), had agreed to a deal last year to sell its interests in Ghana’s Jubilee oilfield to Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N:) for $4 billion, sources close to the deal had said at the time.

ACCRA (Reuters) – Ghana’s state oil company has reached a “critical stage” in talks to acquire a stake in the giant Jubilee oilfield from Kosmos Energy, a source involved in the negotiations told Reuters on Tuesday. GNPC’s interest in the prospect, part of one of the biggest oil finds in Africa poised to make Ghana [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – China’s Sinopec has offered to make a joint bid with Ghana’s national oil company for Kosmos Energy’s stake in the huge Jubilee oilfield off the coast of the country, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter. Sinopec’s recent initial offer was rejected by state-run [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – BP Plc (BP.L) has had talks with Ghana’s national oil company about a possible joint bid for Kosmos Energy’s stake in the huge Jubilee oilfield off the coast of the country, Bloomberg said on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter. BP has hired Goldman Sachs to advise on the [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – China National Offshore Oil Corp is in talks with Ghana National Petroleum Corp to bid for a stake in a large oil discovery off West Africa, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. The offer for Kosmos Energy’s stake in the discovery, Jubilee, would rival a $4 billion [...]

HONG KONG/MUMBAI  (Reuters) – India’s leading oil producer ONGC (ONGC.BO) has hired Citigroup (C.N) to advise it on a bid for Kosmos Energy’s stake in an oil field in Ghana in a deal that could be worth between $3 billion and $5 billion, sources familiar with the deal said. Private equity-backed Kosmos, which has received [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The bid deadline for private equity-backed Kosmos Energy’s Ghanaian oil interests has been extended and another date will be announced within the next 30 days, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. The bid deadline had previously been on Friday. The extension gives bidders extra time to digest major [...]

Kosmos Energy LLC, a Dallas-based energy company backed by The Blackstone Group and Warburg Pincus, is soliciting buyers for its stakes in two West African oil fields, according to Dow Jones. The deal could be worth up to $3 billion. www.kosmosenergy.com