The IPO Buzz: A Short Playlist

Oct. 5, 2020

Aziyo Biologics leads a light IPO Calendar this week. The medical products company’s initial public offering is the only traditional IPO among four deals on tap. The short playlist includes fuboTV, an uplift to the New York Stock Exchange; a SPAC, and a CBD-infused skin care products company’s micro-cap unit offering (stock and warrants) on the NASDAQ.  Bankers expect to raise $457.5 million.

It looks like the IPO market is taking a moment to catch its breath after running at a dizzying pace since summer.

October got off to a strong start. A total of 18 companies – seven IPOs and 11 SPACs – made their debuts on Oct. 1 and Oct. 2.

There’s no sign yet of any let-up in the torrent of IPO filings by special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, also known as blank check companies. SPACs accounted for more than half of the 30 new filings at the SEC last week.

Pulmonx Corp. (LUNG) scored a moonshot on Oct.1, its first day of trading. The stock closed on Thursday, Oct. 1, at $39.31, up 106.89 percent from its IPO price at $19 on Sept. 30. On Friday, Oct. 2, Pulmonx closed on NASDAQ at $41.90, up 120.53 percent from its IPO price. (A moonshot is a gain of 100 percent or more on an IPO’s first day of trading.)

IPO investors loved the story of Pulmonx, a medical device company whose product, the Zephyr Valve, can be implanted in the lungs of people suffering from severe emphysema, a form of COPD, to help them breathe more easily. Boston Scientific Corp. is a major shareholder. The Pulmonx IPO was increased to 10 million shares, from its initial size of 6.7 million shares, and priced $3 above the top of its $14-to-$16 range.

The strong performance of Pulmonx bodes well for Aziyo Biologics, which is attracting a lot of interest this week.

Let’s take a look at the coming week’s deals, organized by pricing and trading dates.

Tuesday night pricing for Wednesday trading:

Jupiter Wellness  (JUPW proposed and JUPWW proposed) describes itself as “a cutting-edge wellness hemp-derived cannabidiol, or CBD, consumer product development company.” Based in Jupiter, Florida, the company says its lead product candidate is its CaniDermRX topical solution to treat eczema.

Note: “Risk Factors” on page 3 of the S-1, filed Sept. 4, include this line: “Our accountant has indicated doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.”

Note: Check out what the FDA says about consumer products containing cannabis.

This is a “firm commitment” unit offering of 1 million units expected to be priced at $7.50 each. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one warrant to buy one share of common stock. Jupiter Wellness has applied to the NASDAQ for approval to list its stock under proposed symbol “JUPW” and its warrants under proposed symbol “JUPWW,” the prospectus says.

Wednesday night pricing for Thursday trading:

Aziyo Biologics  (AZYO proposed) is a commercial-stage regenerative medicine company, based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Its core products include the CanGaroo, the first and only natural biologic envelope designed to help reduce complications with implants of pacemakers and defibrillators; FiberCel Fiber Viable Bone Matrix, ViBone and OsteGro V for spine and orthopedic procedures; SimpliDerm, a pre-hydrated human acellular dermal matrix for soft tissue repair, and a portfolio of extracellular matrices for use in vascular and cardiac repair. The company has commercial relationships with major medical device companies, such as Boston Scientific and Medtronic, to promote and sell some of its core products.

This is an IPO of 2.94 million shares at $16 to $18 each to trade on the NASDAQ.

fuboTV, Inc. (FUBO proposed) is the leading sports-first live TV streaming platform. The company, formerly known as FaceBank Group, offers subscribers a live TV streaming service for $59.99 per month with the option to buy add-ons and features, including enhanced Cloud DVR and a Family Share plan. The base plan features more than 100 channels, including 43 of the top 50 Nielsen-ranked networks (among adults aged 18-49) across sports, news and entertainment. In the summer of 2020, fuboTV added ESPN and ABC and other top programming from Disney.

This is not an IPO. This is an uplift to the NYSE from the OTCQB Venture Market. This is an offering of 15 million shares at $9 to $11 each.

“Week of Oct. 5” Pricing

OTR Acquisition  (OTRAU proposed) is a new blank check company or SPAC, based in Miami, that intends to focus its search on target businesses with enterprise values of approximately $750 million to $2.5 billion.

This is an IPO of 25 million units at $20 each to trade on the NASDAQ.

(For more information on these companies, please see the IPO profiles on the IPOScoop.com website.)

A Peek at Mid-October

Nothing is scheduled yet for the next two weeks of October. But that could change quickly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s filing window opens again for business on Monday morning.

Stay tuned.

Disclaimer: A SCOOP Rating (Wall Street Consensus of Opening-day Premiums), is a general consensus taken, at press time, from Wall Street and investment professionals concerning how well an IPO might perform when it starts trading. The SCOOP Rating does not reflect the opinions of anyone associated with IPOScoop.com. The SCOOP ratings should not be taken as investment advice. The rating merely reflects the opinion of the professionals at the time of publication and is subject to last-minute changes due to market conditions, changes in a specific offering and other factors, such as changes in the proposed offering terms and the shifting of investor interest in the IPO. The information offered is taken from sources we believe to be reliable, but we cannot guarantee the accuracy.

Disclosure: Nobody on the IPOScoop.com staff has a position in any stocks mentioned above, nor do they trade or invest in IPOs. The IPOScoop.com staff does not issue advice, recommendations or opinions.