Category Archives: The IPO Buzz

 

Hot topics in this year’s IPO market have tended to come from names in three sectors — private-equity firms, limited partnerships and “insanity-dot-com” companies. Each sector is running a horse this week, according to the IPO calendar. But there can be only one “pick of the week.”

 

 

By: John E. Fitzgibbon, Jr.

 

First, the bad news: The stock market has taken a few body blows over the last five weeks. The three popular indexes have lost on average 4.9 percent since the end of April. Now for the good news: Leadership is emerging in the IPO market. It’s in specialty technology.

 

By: John E. Fitzgibbon, Jr.

 

The Memorial Day holiday is usually a small speed bump on the IPO Highway. This year is no exception. After 23 companies went public in May, the month of June opens with just a single deal. It’s a carryover from May. But tiny Internet bubbles can be seen floating on the horizon.

 

By: John E. Fitzgibbon, Jr.

 

LinkedIn (LNKD) leaped into legend last week with a moonshot. The IPO skyrocketed for a 109.4 percent opening-day gain. You could almost hear eyeballs popping in Silicon Valley and hearts beating faster with anticipation of another wave of “insanity-dot-com” sweeping over the IPO calendar. And that set the stage for this week.

 

The IPO ship pulls into New York City’s harbor this week with 10 offerings looking to raise over $2.1 billion. The focal point will be on three deals coming from the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese IPOs have hit a speed bump.

 

The May IPO market storms into town with all the excitement and thrills of a Chinese New Year parade. There are eight deals on this week’s calendar and another seven for next week. Collectively, they could raise as much as $3.2 billion. And there’s more. The Street expects fireworks from some of those 15 names.

 

Thunder and lightning rolled through the canyons of Wall Street last week and the forecast is for more of the same, but not for this week’s IPO calendar.

 

 

By: John E. Fitzgibbon, Jr.

 

When words such as “cloud computing” and “China” wrap their fingers around an IPO these days, you can anticipate some aftermarket fireworks. 21Vianet Group (VNET – proposed) – a Chinese “cloud computing” company – heads up this week’s IPO calendar. The Street is calling it “the pick of the week.”

 

 

By: John E. Fitzgibbon, Jr.

 

The IPO circus comes to town this week with eight acts on its card looking to raise over $1.8 billion. Zipcar (ZIP –proposed) and Arcos Dorados Holdings (ARCO – proposed) are expected to star in the center ring. Some even think Arcos, the world’s largest McDonald’s franchisee, could be the sleeper of the week.