The answer to this turnaround is found in the underlying stock market, as measured by the Nasdaq Composite Index. The stock market collapsed in mid-2011.
From the market’s closing high set on April 29, 2011, at 2,873.54, the Nasdaq fell 18.7 percent to 2,335.83, its year’s closing low on Oct. 3. That’ll kill an IPO market.
Fast forward to 2012: The stock market surged.
From the market’s recent closing low set on June 1, 2012, at 2,747.48, the Nasdaq gained 13.4 percent to 3,116.23, its close on Sept. 28. That’s a breeding ground for an IPO calendar.
This week’s calendar has eight IPOs looking to raise about $1.2 billion. Seven are new faces, and the other (GlobeImmune – GBIM – proposed – prospectus) from the past few weeks. Next week, Oct. 8, the calendar has six offerings looking to raise about $1.3 billion, and there is one other in the wings (Taylor & Martin Group – TMG – proposed – prospectus) waiting for a pricing date.
On the “Most Wanted” List
FleetMatics Group (FLTX – proposed – prospectus) and LifeLock (LOCK – proposed – prospectus) are reportedly on this week’s “most wanted” list, according to the IPO professionals.
“Car 54, Where Are You?”
You don’t have to be a fan of that early 1960s sitcom, “Car 54, Where Are You?” and the antics of its Bronx cops to be interested in the services of FleetMatics Group. Based in Dublin, the company is a global provider of GPS-based telemetry services enabling companies to track their vehicles. The company has more than 16,000 customers tracking over 281,000 vehicles worldwide. Most of FleetMatics’ business – about 85 percent – is based in the United States. FleetMatics Group was formed in 2004. The company has about 446 employees.
FleetMatics Group plans to price 7.8 million ordinary shares at $15 to $17 each on Thursday evening. The IPO is expected to start trading on Friday morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the proposed symbol “FLTX.” The joint-lead managers are BofA Merrill Lynch and Barclays. The co-managers are RBC Capital Markets, Stifel Nicolaus Weisel and William Blair.
FleetMatics Group plans to sell about 6.25 million ordinary shares. Selling shareholders aim to sell about 1.56 million ordinary shares. The company expects to have about 34.4 million ordinary shares outstanding after the offering.
A Lock for your ID
Based in Tempe, Arizona, LifeLock provides identity-theft protection services to consumers. It also offers identity risk-assessment and fraud-protection services to businesses. The company serves more than 2.3 million subscribers. Its corporate clients include six of the top 10 U.S. financial institutions, three of the top four U.S. wireless service providers and eight of the top 10 U.S. credit-card issuers, according to its prospectus. LifeLock was formed in 2005. It has about 616 employees.
LifeLock plans to price 15.7 million shares at $9.50 to $11.50 each on Tuesday evening. The IPO is expected to start trading on Wednesday morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the proposed symbol “LOCK.” The joint-lead managers are Goldman Sachs, BofA Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank Securities. The co-managers are RBC Capital Markets, Canaccord Genuity and Needham.
LifeLock plans to sell 15.5 million shares and selling shareholders intend to sell 200,000 shares. The company expects to have about 83.4 million shares outstanding after the offering.
The rest of this week’s calendar is expected to draw varying degrees of investors’ interest. The IPO players will start to look to next week when Shutterstock (SSTK – proposed – prospectus) is in the offing, but more on that later.
Stay tuned.
Disclosure: Neither the author nor anyone else on the IPOScoop.com staff has a position in any stocks mentioned, nor do they trade or invest in IPOs. The author and IPOScoop.com staff do not issue advice, recommendations or opinions.