Two IPOs wiggled into last week’s market to open November 2018. And this week’s IPO Calendar has as many as 11 deals expecting to raise about $800 million. But don’t get carried away.
In dissecting the calendar, it looks as if three are carryovers from previous weeks, while two deals are by companies whose underlying shares are traded in their foreign stock markets. Among the rest are two blank checks, one closed-end investment company and three new names set to join the 2018 march of IPOs.
Thinning the Ranks
Some breaking news on Sunday evening changed this week’s IPO lineup, when Qualtrics International (XM proposed) announced on Twitter: “We’re excited to join forces with @SAP to power the experience economy.”
Axios ran the story around 6:35 p.m. EST under the headline:
SAP to buy Qualtrics for $8 billion
Qualtrics will withdraw its IPO, which had been scheduled for pricing on Wednesday evening to trade Thursday morning. The IPO was expected to raise about $400 million. The company, based in Provo, Utah, offers subscription software for collecting and analyzing data for market research, customer satisfaction and loyalty, product and concept testing, employee evaluations and website feedback.
So that news pared this week’s IPO volume to $800 million from $1.2 billion. There are now 11 deals, down from a dozen, and only three new names instead of four on the IPO Calendar.
November Numbers
Before getting into the three new names on this week’s calendar, let’s take a quick look at the IPO traffic from past Novembers.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reported that for the months of November running from 2001 through 2017, the median average for the IPO calendar was 17 deals. Note: The busiest November was in 2007 with 38 IPOs and the slowest was in 2008 with just one IPO.
Three New Names
Now let’s take a look at what is coming to town this week. The rundown is organized by pricing and trading dates.
Tuesday evening for Wednesday morning
Vapotherm (VAPO proposed), based in Exeter, New Hampshire, develops Hi-VNI technology products that provide mask-free ventilation support to treat hospital patients suffering from respiratory distress.
Wednesday evening for Thursday morning
Centrexion Therapeutics (CNTX proposed), based in Boston, is a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing non-opioid and non-addictive therapies to treat chronic pain. Note: Insiders are in for $30 million of the $75 million IPO.
Weidai (WEI proposed), based in Hangzhou China, believes it is the largest auto-backed financing solution provider in China, in terms of loan volume. The company’s platform connects borrowers – the majority are small and micro enterprise owners – with both online investors and institutional funding partners. Their cars are the collateral for their loans. Note: Several investors have indicated an interest in buying up to $50 million in this $45 million IPO.
(For more information, check the company profiles by clicking on the individual company’s name on the IPO Calendar on the IPOScoop.com website.)
Thanksgiving Week
The IPO Calendar is clean and green for November’s third week, which will be cut short by the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, Nov. 22nd. But anything can happen when the SEC’s filing window opens again for business on Tuesday morning. (The SEC will be closed Monday for Veterans Day.)
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.