IPO bankers have set the stage for a brisk box-office business this fall as Wall Street returns from the long Labor Day weekend and the late August break.
During the past two weeks, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s filing window attracted about a dozen new-issue filings from companies representing a broad swath of the economy. From a drone’s-eye view, the SEC’s window looked almost as popular as the counter of your neighborhood Mister Softee ice-cream truck.
Tech, financials, energy, health care and blank checks are among the industrial sectors represented by the companies filing to go public – or updating their IPO prospectuses – during the last half of August and the first two days of September.
The prime ingredient for a healthy IPO market is a strong underlying U.S. stock market. The Nasdaq Composite Index, long considered the barometer of the IPO market, finished the month of August up 0.9 percent from its close on July 29. For the year to date, the Nasdaq was up 4.1 percent.
Public Safety Play
Global software company Everbridge, Inc., which filed plans to go public on Aug. 19, got the post-Labor Day party started with an SEC filing early Tuesday, Sept 6, setting terms for its IPO: 7.5 million shares in a price range of $11 to $13. At the mid-point of that range, the IPO would raise $90 million. Everbridge is also one of the first names on the post-Labor Day IPO calendar, with a pricing date set for Sept. 15. Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are the joint book-runners.
Everbridge (EVBG-proposed) “provides critical communications and enterprise safety applications that enable customers to automate and accelerate the process of keeping people safe and businesses running during critical events,” according to its prospectus. Those situations include public safety threats, terrorist attacks or severe weather conditions, as well as critical business events such as IT outages or cyber incidents. Based in Burlington, Massachusetts, Everbridge counts schools and government agencies among its clients as well as major corporations.
Among the most closely watched IPOs expected this fall is Nutanix, Inc. (NTNX-proposed), a cloud platform company, which offers software solutions that converge “traditional silos of server, virtualization and storage into one integrated solution,” according to its prospectus. Some reports in the tech press predicted that the roadshows for Nutanix would start today, Sept. 6, but that could not be confirmed at press time.
Nashville Banks
Two Nashville banks danced the Tennessee two-step into the IPO limelight with new-issue filings during the pre-Labor Day break: CapStar Financial (CSTR-proposed) and FB Financial (FBK-proposed).
Next week’s IPO calendar includes FB Financial.
These banking companies benefit from their Nashville connections. Nashville, known for country music and the Grand Ole Opry, is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States.
Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd., a Hamilton, Bermuda-based bank whose stock is traded on the Bermuda Stock Exchange under the symbol “NTB.BH,” is also scheduled to sell common stock in the United States (proposed symbol NTB on the NYSE) late next week.
So the IPO calendar is percolating. And since this is Wall Street, anything could happen over the next several days to fill up the IPO dance card.
Stay tuned.
Disclosure: Neither the author nor anyone else on the IPOScoop.com staff has a position in any stocks mentioned, nor do we trade or invest in IPOs. The author and IPOScoop.com staff do not issue advice, recommendations or opinion.