Category Archives: The IPO Buzz

 

The IPO market stumbled through August like a punch-drunk prizefighter. But it came out a winner in the end. Summer is over now for the IPO calendar. It answered its last bell right on schedule; more on that in a minute.

 

Bloomin’ Brands (BLMN) and Manchester United (MANU) dominated the IPO news last week. In the meantime, Hi-Crush Partners LP (HCLP – proposed) slipped in under the radar and landed on this week’s IPO calendar.

 

This week wraps up the summer of 2012 for the IPO market. There are six deals on the calendar and nothing thereafter. But there are a few headliners in the wings this week waiting to make their debuts. They are a couple of well- known restaurant chains and a sporting dynasty that dates back into the 19^th Century.

 

August’s IPO calendar opens for business Wednesday morning. All told, there are four deals scheduled to make their debuts this week and two more the following. After that, the calendar will probably close down for its traditional hibernation period from about two weeks before Labor Day to about two weeks after the early September holiday. During August 2011, only four IPOs made it out the door.

 

This week’s IPO calendar sports eight deals. The last time there were more was for the week of May 7, when 12 IPOs were on tap, but only five made it to market. There is some good news this week. Another cloud-computing company is getting top billing, according to IPO handicappers.

 

 

When the IPO Express pulled into the Wall Street Station last week, it had a lot going for it. The train was on schedule and loaded with goodies.

 

July 4^th spells holiday in the U.S. capital markets. Then Wall Street gets back to work the next day, if it is not on a weekend. But the IPO calendar has an extended vacation.

 

 

The IPO market closed out 2012’s first half with a bang. On Friday – the final trading day of the six-month period – ServiceNow (NOW), a cloud-computer company, scored a gain of 36.7 percent in its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. (More on that later.) ServiceNow was one of four IPOs to hit the launching pad during the final week of June. All finished in the winner’s circle – a fitting coda just before the IPO market’s Fourth of July break.

 

With one eye on the stock market and the other on hope, this week’s IPO calendar has four deals on its launching pad. The IPO experts had not expected any movement until after the July 4^th break, and they still might be right.

 

It’s always a good idea to read the fine print in a contract, even if it’s so thin that it looks like a straight line. And it’s a good idea to read an IPO’s “red herring.” One will find valuable information within its pages.