In 2013, December’s calendar produced 13 of the year’s 232 IPOs, and the last one was priced on Dec. 17, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
In 2012, December’s calendar produced eight of the year’s 145 IPOs, and the last IPO was priced on Dec. 18.
In 2011, December’s calendar produced 11 of the year’s 140 IPOs, and the last IPO was priced of Dec. 16.
And for history buffs: In 1983, December’s calendar produced 99 IPOs. This was the busiest December on record, and 1983 was no slouch. The year produced 685 IPOs. However, there are no available records for the pricing date of 1983’s final IPO.
Specialty Drugs and Knee Repair
Over the last few years, the week after the Thanksgiving holiday has been very quiet. Consider this: In 2013, just one IPO was priced in the week after Thanksgiving Day, and the same thing happened in 2011. In 2012, nothing was priced in the post-Thanksgiving week.
But this year is looking better. Two deals are on tap, and there are sounds in the air of more IPOs on the way.
The two names being talked about are CB Pharma Acquisition (CNLMU – proposed), a repeat from previous weeks, and Histogenics (HSGX – proposed).
CB Pharma Acquisition is a Burlington, Massachusetts-based “blank check” company recently formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. The promoters are focusing on specialty pharma and generic drug industries.
Histogenics is a Waltham, Massachusetts-based regenerative medicine company focused on developing and commercializing products in the musculoskeletal segment of the marketplace. Its leading product candidate is a replacement of knee cartilage.
Looking into the week of Dec. 8, 2014, the calendar has one deal aiming to raise $500 million. But more names could pop onto the calendar by the time that Monday, Dec. 8, rolls around.
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 opinions.