In 2005, bankers priced 236 IPOs that raised $40 billion, according to available reports. And, by Friday’s close, bankers had already priced 227 IPOs in 2006 that raised $43.7 billion. This year’s dollar volume has already surpassed 2005.
But that’s not all.
By Friday’s close, 14 of the week’s 18 deals finished above their initial offering prices. Three IPOs were in the loser’s column and one closed unchanged. (Please see “IPO Traffic.”) They scored an average gain of 18.1 percent. That was much better than the 0.81 percent gain by the Nasdaq Composite Index for the past week.
And there’s more.
Technology, a sector that many had forgotten and left for dead, topped last week’s list of winners.
The Heroes
Isilon Systems (NASDAQ: ISLN), a Seattle-based provider of clustered storage systems for digital content, priced 8.35 million shares at $13 each, up from its original filing range of $8.50 to $9.50 per share, on Thursday evening. On Friday, the IPO opened at $25 and closed at $23.10, UP 77.7 percent from its initial offering price.
Guidance Software (NASDAQ: GUID), a Pasadena, California-based provider of software solutions for digital investigations, priced 5 million shares at $11.50 each, below its filing range of $12.50 to $14.50 per share, on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, the IPO opened at $13 and closed Friday at $17.15, UP 49.1 percent from its initial offering price.
IPG Photonics (NASDAQ: IPGP), an Oxford, Massachusetts-based developer of a broad line of high-performance fiber lasers and amplifiers used for medical, telecommunications and other applications, priced 9 million shares at $16.50 each, above its original filing range of $13.50 to $15.50 per share on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, the IPO opened at $25 and closed Friday at $24.60, UP 49.1 percent from its initial offering price.
The Sleeper’s Sweet Debut
The fourth-place finisher had its own story.
Affymax (NASDAQ: AFFY), a Palo Alto, California-based biopharmaceutical company developing peptide-based drug candidates to improve the treatment of kidney diseases and cancer, was the sleeper of the week.
Affymax priced 3.7 million shares at $25 each, up from 5 million shares at $22 to $24 each on Thursday evening. On Friday, the IPO opened at $30 and closed at $33.88, UP 35.5 percent from its initial offering price.
What was the secret to Affymax’s success?
The prospectus had the answer.
In a nutshell, it stated that Affymax had entered into collaboration agreements with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Japan’s largest pharmaceutical firm. Beginning in January 2007, Takeda will bear the first $50 million of third-party expenses related to clinical development of Hematide (Affymax’s principal product); Takeda has paid Affymax upfront license fees of $122 million, and Takeda will buy about $10 million of Affymax’s preferred stock. Affymax also is eligible to receive from Takeda up to $355 million upon the successful achievement of clinical development and regulatory milestones, and it may receive up to $150 million upon the achievement of certain worldwide annual net sales milestones.
Affymax’s IPO was off and running after it was priced.
A Christmas Spectacular
All in all, there were many happy faces in the IPO Valley last week. And that scenario brings us to this week.
Bankers have 11 deals scheduled to make their debuts the week before Christmas. And there are a couple of Chinese IPOs on the calendar. They could produce some fireworks to closeout the year.
They are: Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau) (NASDAQ: MPEL proposed) and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL proposed).
Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau) is a Hong Kong-based operator of casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities in Macau. Bankers plan to price 53 million American Depositary Shares at $16 to $18 each.
Trina Solar is a China-based manufacturer of integrated solar-power products. Bankers plan to price 5.3 million American Depositary Shares at $13.50 to $15.50 each.
Each deal is expected to be priced Monday evening and to start trading on Tuesday, December 19, 2006.
After Friday, the IPO calendar closes down for the rest of the year.
(For premium subscribers, please check the “IPO SCOOP Rated Calendar.”)