IPO

Groupon’s growth spurt nearing the end

9 Feb 2012

The newly-public online coupon firm increased sales five-fold in 2011 and even turned slightly profitable. But its first results since the IPO also show revenue growth slowed for a fifth consecutive quarter. Groupon will have to get a move-on to justify its $15.7 bln valuation.

How does a $31 bln mega-LBO become an $18 mln IPO?

7 Feb 2012

What sounds like a gambling tragedy is the perplexing, yet true, story of the buyout of Caesars Entertainment by TPG and Apollo. The deal, struck at the height of the bubble, has been a tough one. Co-investors are in such a hurry to get out, they’re actually paying to exit.

Facebook’s biggest risk lies in palm of your hand

3 Feb 2012

Half of the social network’s 845 mln users now access it through a phone, and that number is surging. Yet Facebook receives virtually no display advertising revenue from small screens. The shift to mobile Internet use could be Mark Zuckerberg’s biggest threat - and he knows it.

Facebook needn’t envy life inside China firewall

3 Feb 2012

About half the world’s Internet users live in China, where soon-to-IPO Facebook is banned. But the potential is uncertain anyway. China’s social networking scene is competitive; Facebook would be a latecomer. Google and Groupon show it’s hard to succeed inside the Middle Kingdom.

Too much success is priced into Facebook’s IPO

2 Feb 2012

That’s the message from the social network’s numbers and Google’s precedent. Growth and margins need to track the search giant’s trajectory to justify a $100 bln price tag. Investors will have to decide if much more than $50 bln leaves enough room for uncertainty and upside.

Facebook IPO lays bare Wall Street’s laggards

1 Feb 2012

Goldman losing the top spot after leading last year’s investing round is a mild embarrassment. More startling are the absences of Citi and Credit Suisse from the lineup. Shunned by Facebook and falling in the league tables, both risk losing their bulge bracket status.

Facebook IPO will put public markets to shame

30 Jan 2012

Unlike Google’s 2004 stock sale, everyone who’s anyone has already made a killing on the social network, from sharp VCs to Chinese and Russian billionaires to Goldman’s top clients. Hell, even Microsoft is up big. At $100 bln, it’s hard to imagine much is left for the hoi polloi.

Iraq should cut down telco listing ambitions

26 Jan 2012

The country’s three big telecom operators must list to meet their licence agreements. But the $5 bln move would overwhelm Iraq’s tiny exchange. With little need for cash, the companies are stalling. If Iraq wants to see action, it should at least cut the offer size.

Ambani brothers’ mixed fortunes tell same story

18 Jan 2012

Both tales tell the same story of declining opportunities for investment in India. Mukesh may be cash rich while Anil is in stark need of funding. Some think that has the making of reconciliation. That’s unlikely. Mukesh would rather buy his own shares than those of his brother.

European IPOs may need big backers to turn corner

29 Dec 2011

In good times “cornerstone”-backed listings should get short shrift. Guaranteeing stakes to early, public backers makes investors unequal and prizes hype over substance. But Europe’s IPO market is dysfunctional. For big deals to succeed, cornerstones may be a necessary evil.

Gray market trading sucking life from IPOs

16 Dec 2011

Facebook’s float will grab headlines next year. But as Zynga’s tepid debut shows, multiple private investment rounds and the ability to trade shares before going public mean there are slim pickings when public market investors finally get their chance to participate.

Hong Kong needs to add polish to its IPO crown

9 Dec 2011

Asia’s financial centre is set to cede IPO leadership back to New York. Deal flows from China are strong and global giants like to list close to the world’s biggest growth market. But HK’s listing process may have to be shorter and simpler if it is to quickly regain top spot.

Michael Kors IPO cut from same cloth as Prada’s

6 Dec 2011

The U.S. designer’s eponymous firm is seeking a luxury price tag of up to $3.6 bln in a New York float. It’s an all-American fashion name and the high-end valuation isn’t out of line with Prada’s Hong Kong listing this year. But Kors may struggle to keep up the pace of growth.

Delay takes shine off Zynga’s IPO

2 Dec 2011

Revenue at the maker of FarmVille and other Internet games is still rising fast. But on more telling measures, growth has slowed. Zynga’s hoped-for $9 bln valuation isn’t too far-fetched. But the price tag might have been even higher had it harvested IPO investors’ cash earlier.

PCCW spinoff can’t unwind tycoon discount

23 Nov 2011

Richard Li’s conglomerate snagged a generous $3.8 bln price tag for its Hong Kong telecom business, thanks to a promise of fat dividends. But the spinoff exposes an inconvenient truth: the mogul’s own holding company is valued at almost 40 percent less than the sum of its parts.

Rights issues need a straightforward story in Asia

10 Nov 2011

Five recent equity raisings worth a total $4.5 bln triggered plunging share prices. Yet rights issues don’t themselves hurt investors. For issuers with a good story, like Thailand’s Big C, the damage will be temporary. Others, like Korea’s LG Electronics, show how not to do it.

Groupon makes IPO of scarce shares look cheap

4 Nov 2011

The Internet coupon firm’s stock popped as much as 50 pct. Short-term excitement was assured by signing up most of Wall Street to peddle 6 pct of its stock. Longer term, keeping a valuation approaching $20 bln will require more tangible things like profit.

Russian delay adds to Polyus UK listing concerns

28 Oct 2011

A regulatory delay to the gold miner’s London listing may have political motives. The timing is suggestive, coming after public outbursts by owner Mikhail Prokhorov. The setback underlines risks that make it unwise for London to waive its rules for Russian companies.

UK listing hands credit to Russia’s steely Evraz

17 Oct 2011

Another Russian minerals company is heading for the UK’s FTSE 100. Commodity worries and the involvement of Roman Abramovich means investors will approach with caution. But the company’s size, diversity and exposure to infrastructure spending tempers doubts about Evraz.

Essar’s better prepared for a second UK IPO

6 Oct 2011

India’s Essar is considering a UK listing for its infrastructure assets. With one London IPO under its belt, and lessons on governance from that experience still fresh, it should be better prepared this time around. Now there’s the small issue of timing.