The IPO Buzz: Five IPOs Get a Jumpstart

When the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act was signed into law in April 2012, it changed the way companies can go public. The end result is that under the JOBS Act, a company can file its S-1 forms one day and be on the calendar in 21 days. Before then, it could take weeks or months to make it on the IPO calendar.

 

The current calendar is a result of the new way that companies can go public. For example, this time a week ago, the IPO calendar had nothing scheduled for the week of Feb. 4. Now it has five IPOs aiming to raise over $1.1 billion.

 

Welcome to the new way of life under the JOBS Act. Don’t expect much lead time between a filing and a pricing date.

 

Now let move to this week’s calendar. There are two deals on the “Most Wanted” list, according to IPO experts. One is about dogs, the other about houses, and there are people out there who know something about both.

 

Zoetis is a name that’s familiar to the doctors who treat the four-legged members of the family – dogs, cats and other pets. Zoetis plans to price 86.1 million Class A common shares at $22 to $25 each on Thursday evening. The IPO is expected to start trading Friday morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the proposed symbol “ZTS.”

 

The joint-lead managers are J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. The co-managers are Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Securities, Jefferies, BNP PARIBAS, HSBC, Loop Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets, Williams Capital Group, UBS Investment Bank, Lebenthal, Piper Jaffray and Ramire.

 

Based in New York City, Zoetis (formerly Pfizer Animal Health) is a provider of more than 300 veterinary medicine products sold in more than 120 countries worldwide. With revenues of almost $4.3 billion over the last 12 months, the company believes it is the world’s largest provider of animal health products. Zoetis was formed in 1952. It has about 9,500 employees.

 

Pfizer plans to sell all of the shares in the offering. After the offering, there will be two classes of stock: 86.1 million shares of Class A common stock, owned by the public, and 413.9 million shares of Class B stock, owned by Pfizer.

Note: A Southern money manager quipped that people think more of their dogs than their kids, saying: “A dog is appreciative and loyal.”

 

TRI Pointe Homes plans to price 11.7 million shares at $14 to $16 each on Wednesday evening. The IPO is expected to start trading on Thursday morning on the New Stock Exchange under the proposed symbol “TPH.”

 

The joint-lead managers are Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Securities and FBR. The co-managers are Moelis and JMP Securities.

 

Based in Irvine, California, TRI Pointe is engaged in the design, construction and sale of single-family homes in planned communities in major metropolitan areas located throughout Southern and Northern California. TRI Pointe was formed in 2009. It has about 53 employees.

 

TRI Point plans to sell 10 million shares and selling shareholders plan to sell 1.7 million shares. The company expects to have about 31.6 million shares outstanding after the offering.

Note: The home construction sector has been hot over the last 52 weeks. The Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index closed on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, at 511.12, UP 84.5 percent from a close at 277.10 on Jan. 27, 2012. The S&P 500 Index closed on Friday at 1,502.96, UP 14.2 percent from its close at 1,316.33 on Jan. 27, 2012.

 

The other three deals on this week’s IPO calendar come from the real estate sector and the biopharma/drug sector.

 

Gladstone Land (LAND – proposed), a McLean, Virginia-based real estate investment trust, or REIT, plans to price 3.3 million shares at $15 each on Monday evening to trade on Tuesday morning. The company specializes in buying farms and leasing them to farmers.  

 

KaloBios Pharmaceuticals (KBIO – proposed), a San Francisco-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics to treat people with chronic respiratory diseases and certain types of cancer, plans to price 3.9 million shares at $12 to $14 each during the week.

 

Stemline Therapeutics (STML – proposed), a New York City-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, acquiring, developing and commercializing proprietary therapeutics that target both cancer stem cells and tumor bulk, plans to price 2.3 million shares at $10 to $12 each on Monday evening to trade on Tuesday morning.

 

That will bring us to next week’s calendar of five IPOs. They are expecting to raise over $1.1 billion.

 

Stay tuned.