Apollo Global, based in New York City, plans to price 26.3 million shares at $17 to $19 each. Contrary to erroneous reports, the price range was never cut. You can look it up in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company will offer 8.3 million shares and selling shareholders will offer 18 million shares. The deal is expected to be priced Tuesday evening, March 29, to trade Wednesday morning.
In a nutshell, Apollo operates in three areas. They are: (1) private equity with holdings in AMC Entertainment, CEVA Logistics, Caesars Entertainment, Realogy, Jacuzzi Brands and others; (2) capital markets and (3) real estate. Let’s take a look at some of its numbers and those of a couple of its big-named competitors.
Apollo Global reported earnings of 83 cents per share on total revenues of $2.1 billion for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010.
For comparison, let’s look at the pertinent numbers of two other publicly traded financial services companies with their roots in private equity.
The Blackstone Group (BX) reported earnings of $1.26 per share on total net income of $3.1 billion for the year ended Dec. 31.
Thomson First Call reports 11 analysts rate Blackstone as a “buy” on estimated 2011 EPS of $1.56 and a price target of $21 per share. Its stock closed at $18.74 on Friday, March 25, 2011.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) reported earnings of $1.62 per share on total net income of $7.78 billion for the year ended Dec. 31.
Thomson First Call reports 9 analysts rate KKR as a “buy” on estimated 2011 EPS of $2.08 and a price target of $19 per share. Its stock closed at $17.84 on Friday.
The People’s Choice
The rest of this week’s IPO calendar consists of four deals – a buzzworthy one from China, two carryovers and GNC Holdings (GNC – proposed), a chain of vitamin stores that’s become a household name among health and fitness fanatics.
Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (QIHU – proposed), China’s third-largest Internet company, reported it serviced 339 million monthly active Internet users in January 2011. Qihoo plans to price 12.1 million shares at $10.50 to $12.50 each. The company will offer all the shares in the deal. The deal is expected to be priced Tuesday evening, March 29, to trade on Wednesday morning.
Let’s look at its numbers.
Qihoo reported 2010 net income of $8.5 million on revenues of $57.7 million. Two years ago, Qihoo reported a 2008 loss of $2.7 million on revenues of $16.9 million.
Feedback from the Street: This could be the “deal of the week.”
The carryovers are Preferred Apartment Communities (APTS – proposed), an Atlanta-based real estate investment trust, and Tranzyme (TZYM – proposed) a Durham, North Carolina-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Neither has a pricing date other than “the week of.”
And then there’s the GNC deal. GNC Holdings of Pittsburgh plans to offer 22.5 million shares at $15 to $17 each. It is set to be priced Thursday to trade on Friday morning. (That’s April 1, also known as April Fool’s Day.)
Extra Vitamin C, anyone?
Over all, the IPO calendar for the week of March 28 has five deals expecting to raise about $1.1 billion.
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.