The stock market closed on Friday, June 15, with strong gains. There was the Greek election on June 17 to look forward to, and it turned out well for Wall Street. The buying spree lasted until the close on Wednesday June 20. Then U.S. economic news came out on Thursday morning. It was not good reading. The waltz was over.
Standing in the wings was the IPO calendar.
Bankers had been waiting for the July 4th post-holiday break before stepping forward with offerings. But they thought they spotted a window of opportunity due to favorable “market conditions.” Hope was in the air last Monday when they started adding names to this week’s IPO calendar. The final outcome still depends upon “market conditions.”
A cloud-computer company heads the calendar, which includes three other players. They are looking to raise about $600 million.
Service in the Clouds
ServiceNow plans to price 11.7 million shares at $15 to $17 each on Thursday evening. The IPO is expected to start trading Friday morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the proposed symbol “NOW.” The joint-lead managers are Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank Securities. The co-managers are Barclays, Credit Suisse, UBS Securities, Pacific Crest Securities and Wells Fargo Securities.
ServiceNow plans to price 11.7 million shares at $15 to $17 each on Thursday evening. The IPO is expected to start trading Friday morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the proposed symbol “NOW.” The joint-lead managers are Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank Securities. The co-managers are Barclays, Credit Suisse, UBS Securities, Pacific Crest Securities and Wells Fargo Securities.
Based in San Diego, California, ServiceNow is a provider of cloud-based services that automate enterprise IT operations. Its services include a suite of applications built on its proprietary platform that automates workflow and provides integration between related business processes. The company focuses on transforming enterprise IT by automating and standardizing business processes and consolidating IT across the global enterprise. ServiceNow was formed in 2004. It has about 730 employees. The company’s clients include Deloitte, the U.S. Department of Energy, Sephora and Staples. Dow component Hewlett-Packard Co. is among the company’s competitors.
For the three months ending March 31, 2012, ServiceNow reported a net loss of $5.6 million on revenues of $47.4 million, compared with net income of $3 million on revenues of $25.2 million for the same period a year ago.
ServiceNow plans to sell about 9 million shares and selling shareholders plan to sell about 2.7 million shares. The company expects to have about 120.3 million shares outstanding after the offering.
Cloud-computing deals are among 2012’s leading IPO aftermarket performers. Consider the following:
- Guidewire Software (GWRE) priced its IPO of 8.9 million shares at $13 each on Jan. 24, 2012. It closed on Friday, June 22, at $29.12 – UP 124 percent from its initial offering price.
- Splunk (SPLK) priced its IPO of 13.5 million shares at $13 each on April 18. It closed on Friday at $29.27 – UP 72.2 percent from its initial offering price.
- Demandware (DWRE) priced its IPO of 5.5 million shares at $16 each on March 14. It closed on Friday at $26.37 – UP 64.8 percent from its initial offering price.
Gas, Cars and Drugs
The three other deals on this week’s IPO calendar represent companies with diverse interests. One is a natural gas-related limited partnership. Another provides software and services to help car manufacturers enhance performance and cut costs. The third is a biopharmaceutical company involved in the development of one drug to prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and another drug to treat non-small cell lung cancer.
Here’s the line-up:
EQT Midstream Partners, LP plans to price 12.5 million common units at $19 to $21 each on Tuesday evening. The IPO is expected to start trading Wednesday morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the proposed symbol “EQM.” The joint-lead managers are Citigroup and Barclays. The co-managers are BofA Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo Securities, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman Sachs and RBC Capital Markets.
Based in Pittsburgh, EQT Midstream is a growth-oriented limited partnership formed by EQT Corporation (EQT) to own, operate, acquire and develop midstream assets, including natural gas pipelines and storage facilities, in the Appalachian Basin. The limited partnership was formed in 2012.
Cash Distribution: The partnership plans to provide for a minimum quarterly distribution of $0.35 per unit for each complete quarter, or $1.40 per unit on an annualized basis, to yield 7 percent at the midpoint of its $19 to $21 price range.
EQT Midstream plans to sell all the common units in the offering. It expects to have about 17.3 million common units outstanding after the offering.
Exa Corporation plans to price 6.3 million shares at $11 to $13 each on Wednesday evening. The IPO is expected to start trading Thursday morning on the NASDAQ Global Market under the proposed symbol “EXA.” The lead manager is Stifel Nicolaus Weisel. The co-managers are Baird, Canaccord Genuity and Needham.
Based in Burlington, Massachusetts, Exa develops support-simulation software and services that vehicle manufacturers use to enhance the performance of their products, reduce product development costs and improve the efficiency of their design and engineering processes.
Translation: Porsche AG uses Exa software to improve the aerodynamics and engine cooling of its dream machines. (And where would all those Masters of the Universe be without newer, faster Porsches to spend their bonuses on?) Exa was formed in 1991. It has about 200 employees.
Exa plans to sell about 4.2 million shares and selling shareholders plan to sell about 2.1 million shares. The company expects to have about 13.2 million shares outstanding after the offering.
TESARO plans to price 6 million shares at $12 to $15 each on Thursday evening. The IPO is expected to start trading Friday morning on the NASDAQ Global Market under the proposed symbol “TSRO.” The joint-lead managers are Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Leerink Swann. The co-managers are BMO Capital Markets and Baird.
Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, TESARO is an oncology development-stage biopharmaceutical company. The company has in-licensed and is currently developing two product candidates – rolapitant, a drug to fight nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy, and TSR-011, a drug designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer . TESARO was formed in 2010. It has about 20 employees.
TERSARO plans to sell all of the shares in the offering and expects to have about 26.7 million shares outstanding after the offering.
Last week “The IPO Buzz” promised to look at the “Risk Factors” in the preliminary prospectus for this issue. However, an unexpected IPO calendar got in the way. We’ll examine the significance of “risk factors” next week.
Stay tuned.
Disclosure: Neither the author nor anyone else on the IPOScoop.com staff has a position in any stocks mentioned, nor do they trade or invest in IPOs. The author and IPOScoop.com staff do not issue advice, recommendations or opinions.
The stock market closed on Friday, June 15, with strong gains. There was the Greek election on June 17 to look forward to, and it turned out well for Wall Street. The buying spree lasted until the close on Wednesday June 20. Then U.S. economic news came out on Thursday morning. It was not good reading. The waltz was over.