The IPO Buzz: After the Unthinkable

Sitting in its bunker, watching the stock market’s roller-coaster action – a 513-point loss in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday and a 416-point swing from the Dow’s session high to its intraday low on Friday – was last week’s IPO calendar. It barely let out a peep.

 

And no, it was not due to the stock market’s wild gyrations, as many have reported.

 

The IPO calendar was waiting for Congress and President Obama to come together on an agreement that would keep the financial doors open so the government could pay its bills.

 

If the federal government had closed down, it would have included the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and there would have been no way for an IPO to get out the door without the SEC’s sign-off.

 

So the possibility that the SEC might have been closed by a government shutdown was the reason there were only three deals on last week’s calendar — not the stock market’s wild ride.

 

This brings us to this week. It could be robust, depending upon – yes – the stock market. There are 12 IPOs on the calendar – an even dozen. They expect to raise $1.9 billion –- not too shabby.

 

Of the 12 deals, two are carry-overs from last week. They are:

Both are scheduled to be priced on Monday evening, Aug. 8, to trade on Tuesday morning -– depending on “market conditions.”

 

There are a couple of names being mentioned around the IPO water cooler. They are Carbonite (CARB – proposed) and Trustwave Holdings (TWAV – proposed).

 

 

Carbonite, based in Boston, provides online data backup solutions for consumers and small and medium-sized businesses. Their claim to fame is the Carbonite Personal Cloud (as in cloud computing). The company believes it is the best-known brand in the online data-backup market.

 

The company, founded in 2005, has about 200 employees. Carbonite reported a net loss of $4.7 million on revenues of $14.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011, compared with a net loss of $5.9 million on revenues of $9.1 million for the same period a year ago.

 

Bankers plans to offer 6.25 million shares at $15 to $17 each to raise about $100 million. (Note: The company plans to offer 5.37 million shares and selling shareholders plan to offer 883,527 shares.)

 

The IPO is expected to be priced on Tuesday evening, Aug. 9, and to trade on Wednesday morning on the NASDAQ Global Market under the proposed symbol “CARB.” Joint-lead managers are: BofA Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan

 

 

Trustwave Holdings is a Chicago-based provider of on-demand data security compliance solutions that enable users to achieve and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards. The company believes its compliance management solutions have helped hundreds of thousands of organizations simplify the complex process of validating compliance.

 

The company, founded in 2005, has about 600 employees. Trustwave reported a net loss of $1.4 million on revenues of $33.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011, compared with a net loss of $1.8 million on revenues of $4.2 million for the same period a year ago.

 

Bankers plans to offer 6.25 million shares at $15 to $17 each to raise about $100 million.

 

The IPO is expected to be priced on Wednesday evening, Aug. 10, and to trade on Thursday morning on the NASDAQ Global Market under the proposed symbol “TWAV.” Joint-lead managers are: Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Securities and Barclays Capital

 

As for next week, the IPO traffic just keeps coming. Stay tuned.