IPO News This Week: 9 Firms Seeking Total of $2 Billion in Capital

October 29, 2017 by Paul Ausick

There were eight initial public offerings (IPOs) on the calendar last week and six succeeded in gaining access to the public markets. The total amount raised was over $2 billion and the average first-day pop was around 13.7%.

Nine IPOs are on the coming week’s calendar, and they are looking to raise a combined total of about $2.1 billion.

Here’s a recap of last week’s IPOs:

National Vision Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EYE) raised $384 million in an IPO that priced at $22, above the expected range. Shares got a first day pop of 27% and closed the week up 28%.

Ablynx N.V. (NASDAQ: ABLX) raised $200 million in an upsized offering of 11.5 million shares at $17.50, the high end of the IPO range. Shares popped 29% on the first day of trading and closed the week up 17%.

ForeScout Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: FSCT) raised $116 million in an upsized offering of 5.3 million shares at $22, the high end of its expected range. Shares got a 16% pop on the Friday IPO.

Nexa Resources S.A. (NYSE: NEXA) raised $496 million selling 31 million shares at $16, below the expected range of $18 to $21. Shares began trading Friday and ended the day with a 9% pop.

Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ: MBIN) raised $100 million in an upsized offering of 6.3 million shares that priced at $16, below the expected range of $17 to $19. The Friday IPO ended with a 5% share price increase.

BP Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: BPMP) raised $765 million on the sale of 42.5 million shares at $18, below the expected range of $19 to $21. Shares dropped 4% on the first day of trading and ended the week down 2%.

Through the week ending October 27, IPO ETF manager Renaissance Capital reported that 123 IPOs have priced in the United States so far this year, up 31% year over year. Total proceeds raised through last week equaled $29.8 billion, up 81% year over year.

For 2016, Renaissance Capital reported a total of 105 IPOs, down 38% year over year from 170 in 2015. Total 2016 proceeds amounted to $18.8 billion compared with a 2015 total of $30 billion. Renaissance Capital does not include “best efforts” or blank-check companies in its totals, nor does it include IPOs that raise less than $10 million.

Here are the nine companies seeking a place in the public markets next week.

ACM Research makes and sells semiconductor manufacturing cleaning equipment. The company plans to offer 2 million shares in an expected price range of $7.50 to $9.50 to raise $17 million at an implied market cap of $148 million. Underwriters are Roth Capital, Craig-Hallum Capital Group and Benchmark. Shares are shown only as “week of” and will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ACMR.

Altair Engineering is a provider of enterprise-class engineering software. The company plans to offer 12 million shares in an expected price range of $11 to $13 to raise $144 million at an implied market cap of $725 million. Underwriters are JPMorgan, RBC Capital Markets, Deutsche Bank, William Blair and Canaccord Genuity. Shares are expected to price Tuesday and begin trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ALTR.

Loma Negra is an Argentina-based cement producer. The company plans to offer 50.2 American depositary shares (ADSs) in an expected price range of $15 to $19 to raise $853 million at a market cap of around $2.03 billion. Each ADS represents five ordinary shares. Underwriters are Merrill Lynch, Bradesco BBI, Citi, HSBC, Itau BBA and Morgan Stanley. ADSs are scheduled to price Tuesday and begin trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LOMA.

Allena Pharmaceuticals is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company developing enzyme treatments for rare and severe metabolic and kidney disorders. The company plans to offer 5.3 million shares in an expected price range of $14 to $16 to raise $80 million at an implied market cap of $309 million. Underwriters are Credit Suisse, Jefferies, Cowen and Wedbush PacGrow. Shares are expected to price Wednesday and begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ALNA.

Energy Hunter Resources is an independent oil and gas company planning to acquire property in the Permian Basin of west Texas. The company plans to offer 4.8 million shares in an expected price range of $8 to $10 to raise $43.5 million at an implied market cap of $65.4 million. Underwriters are Stifel, B. Riley, FBR Capital Markets, Northland Securities, Drexel Hamilton and Coker & Palmer. Shares are expected to price Wednesday and begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol EHR.

Evoqua Water Technologies is a provider of water treatment solutions. The company plans to offer 27.8 million shares in an expected price range of $17 to $19 to raise $500 million at an implied market cap of $2.04 billion. Underwriters are Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, RBC Capital Markets, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Baird, Raymond James, Stifel and Wells Fargo Securities. Shares are scheduled to price Wednesday and begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AQUA.

Funko is a leading producer of pop culture consumer products. The company plans to offer 13.3 million shares in an expected price range of $14 to $16 to raise $200 million at an implied market cap of $367 million. Underwriters are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Piper Jaffray, Jefferies, Stifel, BMO Capital Markets and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. Shares are expected to price Wednesday and begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FNKO.

Spero Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm developing treatments for multi-drug resistant bacterial infections. The company plans to offer 5 million shares in an expected price range of $14 to $16 to raise $75 million at an implied market cap of $201 million. Underwriters are Merrill Lynch, Cowen, Stifel and Oppenheimer. Shares are expected to price Wednesday and begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SPRO.

Aquantia designs and manufactures high-speed chips for Ethernet connectivity. The company plans to offer 6.8 million shares in an expected price range of $10 to $12 to raise $75 million at an implied market cap of $356 million. Underwriters are Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Needham and Raymond James. Shares are scheduled to price Thursday and begin trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AQ.

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