China’s stock market rout, currency devaluation and lackluster economic outlook frayed nerves and whipsawed global markets during the third quarter, on one day sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting by as much as 1,000 points. However, private equity firms, which have maximized every available exit path for the past 2½ years, continue to look to the public markets as a viable route to monetize their portfolios. At least 26 companies—both private equity- and non-private-equity-backed—filed plans for an IPO or secondary stock offering in the U.S. between Aug. 24, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average took a more than 1,000-point...