The dog days of summer are waiting around the corner for the IPO market. This week’s calendar lists two deals. None are on tap for next week – so far. History shows that the IPO machinery closes down for the rest of August. That last statement is based on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission data.
Having said that, let’s take a look at summers in the recent past. The following figures exclude the usual suspects. (**Excluded are unit offerings, bank conversions, “best efforts” offerings, blank checks, closed-end funds, companies trading on the OTC markets moving over to the NASDAQ, and foreign-traded securities making their debuts in the U.S. capital markets. The latter are public offerings. Investors can buy the underlying shares on foreign exchanges before their U.S. pricing dates.)
So here’s what the SEC records show for the IPOs of August in the past seven years:
- 2016: On Aug. 12, the last IPO was priced.
- 2015: On Aug. 14, the last IPO was priced.
- 2014: On Aug. 14, the last IPO was priced.
- 2013: On Aug. 22, the last IPO was priced. (*)
- 2012: On Aug. 16, the last IPO was priced.
- 2011: On Aug. 17, the last IPO was priced.
- 2010: On Aug. 26, the last IPO was priced. (*)
(*) In 2013 and in 2010, the day-to-day IPO traffic stopped by mid-August, but in each of those two years, a single IPO wiggled off the calendar and into the market. But pricing an IPO up against the Labor Day holiday break is like holding auditions for your play in a college town after finals – most of the players have left town.
This week’s two deals are Clementia Pharmaceuticals (CMTA – proposed) and Venator Materials PLC (VNTR – proposed). They are expected to raise $565 million.
Rx for Rare Bone Diseases
Clementia Pharmaceuticals, based in Montreal, is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing disease-modifying treatments for patients suffering from rare and debilitating bone diseases.
The company is developing a former Roche drug called palovarotene, an oral small-molecule therapy, to treat two diseases – fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva and multiple osteochondroma. Clementia has a Phase III trial and Phase II/III trials, set to begin this year, for two separate indications for this new drug candidate.
Color Your World
Venator Materials, based in The Woodlands, Texas, is a global manufacturer and marketer of chemical products. The company operates two business segments: (1) Titanium Dioxide, the most widely used white pigment, which is used in products ranging from paint, industrial coatings, paper and plastics to food, drugs and cosmetics, including sunscreen, and (2)Performance Additives, which include color pigments and functional additives, as well as timber treatment and water treatment products worldwide.
Venator runs 27 facilities, employs about 4,500 people worldwide and sells its products in more than 110 countries.
(For more information about these companies, please check the IPO profiles found on IPOScoop.com’s website.)
Reaching into August
This takes us to the week of Aug. 7 – and the calendar is as clean as the beach at sunrise. But a lot could happen when the SEC’s filing window opens again on Monday morning.
Stay tuned.
Disclosure: Neither the author nor anyone else on the IPOScoop.com staff has a position in any stocks mentioned, nor do we trade or invest in IPOs. The author and IPOScoop.com staff do not issue advice, recommendations or opinion.