IPO

Equities bankers get hit again where it hurts

28 Nov 2012

It has been a lousy year for IPOs. Fees are down by a third and Facebook was a painful flop. Losing the Archstone deal to M&A colleagues is the latest blow. Despite some consolation business issuing shares for the buyers, ECM is cementing itself as a Wall Street weak spot.

PICC seeks strength in numbers ahead of IPO

22 Nov 2012

The Chinese insurer’s 17 investment banks have signed up 17 “cornerstone” backers in advance of its $3.6 bln offering. Though they’re hardly big-name value investors, they are buying more than half the available shares. In a tough market, PICC needs all the help it can get.

Amazon of China defies down-round blues after all

20 Nov 2012

The valuation of online shopping site 360buy swelled by 15 pct to $7.6 bln in a year, despite widening losses. VCs continue to pour money into China’s crowded e-commerce space. But as players increasingly compete for market share by discounting, profits look ever more elusive.

MegaFon should dial down price hopes for IPO

19 Nov 2012

The Russian mobile operator is tackling worries over ownership and governance. But liquidity and country concerns may still deter generalist investors. A maximum $14 bln market capitalisation also looks too rich versus rival MTS, despite MegaFon’s simpler shape and faster growth.

IPO may be better option for Vivendi’s Brazil unit

12 Nov 2012

The French company is courting top names to unload GVT. But Telecom Italia and Brazil’s Oi can’t afford the $9 bln price tag. And Brasilia could deny Carlos Slim’s America Movil a bigger role. With a full sale tough to achieve, returning GVT to the market may make sense.

Hudson’s Bay IPO: more attractive in 1670 than now

6 Nov 2012

At its debut, the company was the world’s largest landowner, at the frontier of technology with dynamic royal and scientific backing. The Hudson’s Bay returning to the Toronto market is an overleveraged second-tier department store. That’s what 342 years of bad decisions will do.

Rare IPO find: luxury at a reasonable price

31 Oct 2012

Upscale U.S. furniture retailer Restoration Hardware is set to return to public markets after going private and thriving during the crisis. Despite concerns surrounding the co-CEO’s recent resignation, Restoration offers investors a taste of the high life at a fair value.

Mixed messages for Chinese IPO hopefuls

25 Oct 2012

Fosun Pharma’s $500 mln offering breaks a three-month lull in Hong Kong. But a real estate trust backed by Li Ka-Shing has cancelled its Singapore listing, showing investors are still cautious. Despite a market recovery, the pipeline of Chinese IPOs looks set to remain crowded.

MegaFon IPO investors face hard call on governance

9 Oct 2012

Alisher Usmanov plans a $2 bln London listing for MegaFon, his mobile phone company. The lure is data growth and thus, dividends. But new investors must believe their interests will be protected by at most two independent directors, plus those of 25 pct holder TeliaSonera.

Mexico’s $10 bln cement giant lightens its load

8 Oct 2012

Though expansion weighed Cemex down with debt and losses, the U.S. housing recovery, eager bond buyers and a planned Colombia IPO are now paving the road to recovery. The investment thesis, however, is less than concrete. Cemex is richly valued and dividends still look distant.

Hot tech IPO a Frankenstein monster of governance

1 Oct 2012

What happens when a company takes Research In Motion’s two-headed CEO structure, bolts on Facebook’s feudal-class voting rights and injects News Corp’s nepotism worries? In the case of Workday, it creates an eye-popping $3.9 bln valuation for a software firm without any profit.

$4 bln Santander IPO puts Mexico bulls to the test

26 Sep 2012

That’s a handy sum for the Spanish bank’s coffers. And at 2.2 times book value it might look reasonable for a Mexican retail finance business churning out 20 pct returns. But fervent competition, newbie borrowers and rising default rates could soon put that under pressure.

Real estate wave helps an IPO avoid tech wipeout

20 Sep 2012

Newly listed shares of Trulia, an online property listing service, popped by over 40 pct on their debut. That defies the dire dot-com market evidenced by the likes of Facebook and Groupon. The U.S. housing recovery is a good story but Trulia is also still hitched to the Web.

Modest IPO pricing may serve Direct Line the best

14 Sep 2012

The UK general insurer’s enforced separation from Royal Bank of Scotland is tricky. Direct Line’s leading motor market share is a plus; pressure on premiums and a potential antitrust probe are minuses. Punchy pricing could backfire, harming stakeholders’ long-term interests.

Tech IPO disaster represents epic cautionary tale

11 Sep 2012

Hollywood effects creator Digital Domain, whose credits include “Titanic” and the Tupac hologram, has filed for bankruptcy less than a year after going public. Elements of the company’s problems are shared by many other new tech stocks. It’s a case study for investor skepticism.

Asia’s crowded IPOs keep banks busy but poor

7 Sep 2012

A dearth of listings has forced underwriters to crowd onto new offerings. Banks get league table credit, while companies can claim safety in numbers. But there’s little sense in scrapping over a dwindling fee pool. Banks must justify their existence in other ways - or shrink.

Facebook crystallizes blundered IPO with buyback

5 Sep 2012

Mark Zuckerberg’s social network will essentially cut its outstanding share count by 101 mln by promising to use cash, rather than stock, to settle a tax obligation. Buying back stock four months after an IPO at half price looks cynical. In this case it’s just incompetence.

Santander’s Mexican IPO more forced than it looks

5 Sep 2012

Spain’s biggest bank is seeking up to $4 bln by listing 25 pct of its Mexico arm. The move is consistent with its strategy, and either way Santander shouldn’t need to tap the current Spanish bank bailout. But if Spain deteriorates, the lender will need all the capital it can get.

Citi, UBS well suited to roast Nasdaq on Facebook

23 Aug 2012

The two banks are urging the SEC to reject the U.S. exchange’s minimal $62 mln compensation offer relating to its botching of the social network’s IPO. UBS lost a bundle and may look a bit conflicted. But both companies know all about screw-ups and how to pacify critics.

Peter Thiel’s sale encapsulates Facebook folly

21 Aug 2012

The venture capitalist took the first opportunity to unload some $400 mln of shares from his initial $500,000 bet on the social network. His decision cements the idea that Facebook’s IPO was run by and for early backers. Thiel’s board seat is now a snub to new investors, too.