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Facebook prepping for an IPO, as value reaches nearly $10 billion

Wednesday's strong IPO of Fortinet is yet another sign that investors are warming up to early-stage deals -- especially of fast-growing companies.

So does this mean we'll see a public offering of a company like Facebook?

Maybe so. According to Bloomberg News, there has been lots of activity in the private shares of Facebook, which have spiked 42% over the past couple months. The valuation now comes to about $9.5 billion.

Continue reading Facebook prepping for an IPO, as value reaches nearly $10 billion

Closing Bell: An almost recovery (AMD, AXP, DRYS, ETFC, FTNT, VVUS)

The markets were higher before the economic data came to ruin the party. CPI came in higher than PPI on the inflation front, but there was a real disappointment in housing starts considering that many were expecting gains there. Oil inventory contractions across the board failed to boost that market considerably. A late day rally looked like a positive close was in the cards, but the buying action was only so much.

Here were today's closing levels:

Dow 10,426.31 -11.11 (-0.11%)
S&P 500 1,109.79 -0.53 (-0.05%)
Nasdaq 2,193.14 -10.64 (-0.48%)

Top Analyst Calls
Top Day Trader Alerts
Top Stock & Market Rumors

Continue reading Closing Bell: An almost recovery (AMD, AXP, DRYS, ETFC, FTNT, VVUS)

Dollar General goes retail on Wall Street

Dollar General Store (DG) started as a wholesaler in 1939 and then became a retailer in 1955, when the company setup its first store. Since then, the company has grown rapidly. Now, Dollar General is the largest discount retailer in the U.S. -- that is, in terms of the number of stores (which is currently at 8,577).

A few years ago, Dollar General went private, with the backing of KKR, Citi (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), Wellington Management and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. It was at the height of the buyout boom, with a price tag of $7.3 billion. Only $2.8 billion was in equity.

Continue reading Dollar General goes retail on Wall Street

Las Vegas Sands to resume construction in Macau

Late Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Las Vegas Sands (LVS) is preparing to relaunch its stalled construction projects in Macau, China's hot gambling region. Financial woes forced Las Vegas Sands to walk away from the two construction sites a year ago, but newly secured funding means that the casino company can resume work on the projects as soon as January.

Las Vegas Sands disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday that it secured $1.45 billion in financing from banks, and the firm is looking to lock down an additional $300 million. The gaming issue is also attempting to raise as much as $3.83 billion by launching an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong of its Macau assets, about $500 million of which will be used to fund construction on the stalled sites.

Continue reading Las Vegas Sands to resume construction in Macau

Primerica IPO: Citigroup unwinds its far-flung empire

Being 34% owned by the U.S. government, Citigroup's (NYSE: C) destiny is somewhat murky. Yet, to pay off the loans, this massive financial institution must shrink. To this end, Citigroup has filed a public offering for its Primerica Financial Services. According to the prospectus, the deal is expected to raise $100 million, but it's likely the amount will be much larger.

Primerica certainly has an interesting history. Back in 1977, an aggressive financial service executive, Arthur Williams, started the company, with the focus on providing term insurance to consumers as well as mutual fund products. However, he had an interesting twist on distribution: he used network marketing. Basically, a Primerica agent would get incentives by recruiting new agents. As a result, the company's growth exploded.

Continue reading Primerica IPO: Citigroup unwinds its far-flung empire

Hyatt and Ancestry.com IPOs: Beginners' luck?

The IPO market has been pretty slow for the past two years due to the effects of a subprime mortgage crisis that turned into a credit crisis that turned into a worldwide financial crisis and recession. Nonetheless, two companies made their debuts Thursday -- one on the NYSE (NYSE: NYX), the other on the NASDAQ -- and they nailed it. Hyatt Hotels (NYSE: H) gave its investors a 12% gain on its first Big Board trading day, and Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM) switched those digits, jumping 21% in its first day of trading.

Hyatt Hotels overcame two major concerns. The worldwide travel market slump has been tough on hotel companies, and Hyatt has been subject to the same forces as everyone else. Also, investors may have been worried about infighting among the founder's heirs (the Pritzker family), but the double-digit price increase suggests that investors don't foresee Bancroft-style squabbles screwing investors -- or, if you don't like Dow Jones, now a part of News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS), Playboy (NYSE: PLA) makes the same point.

Continue reading Hyatt and Ancestry.com IPOs: Beginners' luck?

Ancestry.com explores an IPO

When it comes to the Internet, few consumers are willing to pay for services -- especially during the current economic hard times. Yet, there are still some websites that are able to get people to fork over their hard-earned money. One example is Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM), which provides extensive data and tools to research family histories.

In fact, this week the company hit another milestone: an IPO. Ancestry.com issued 7.4 million shares at $13.50 each. The expected price range was $12.50 to $14.50.

Continue reading Ancestry.com explores an IPO

TeleNav IPO: On a collision course with Google?

Founded in 1999, TeleNav was one of the first companies to deploy GPS navigation on a cell phone in North America. Now, the company has more than 11 million paying end users.

What's next? TeleNav has filed for an IPO.

The flagship of the company is the GPS Navigator, which is more than just a GPS device with cool features like real-time traffic alerts, weather content, route-planning and so on.

Continue reading TeleNav IPO: On a collision course with Google?

Vitamin Shoppe pumps up its IPO

It's been a long wait for the Vitamin Shoppe, which filed for its IPO back in May 2007. Well, today the company finally hit the markets.

The Vitamin Shoppe issued 9.1 million shares at $17 each (the range was $14-$16). With the money, the company will pay down a portion of its outstanding debt.

Started in 1977, Vitamin Shoppe has grown into a large chain of vitamin/supplement stores, with 434 across 37 states. Even with the recession, the company has still been able to churn out same-store sales growth of more than 4%. For the first half of this year, revenues were $343.7 million, up from $307.1 million a year ago. Net income was $8.8 million.

Continue reading Vitamin Shoppe pumps up its IPO

Will Blackstone make magic with Merlin?

What has Blackstone (NYSE: BX) been doing with all those theme parks it's been buying? Well, the answer is becoming a bit clearer now. The private equity firm is getting ready to take theme park operator Merlin Entertainments public early next year.

Several investment banks have already been called to advise on the transaction, including Citigroup (NYSE: C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), UBS (NYSE: UBS), and Nomura (NYSE: NMR). If all goes as planned, the deal could be good for $3.33 billion.

Continue reading Will Blackstone make magic with Merlin?

Kleiner Perkins takes a piece of Shazam, fingers crossed for an IPO

When you smell an IPO coming, look for Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. The Sand Hill Road institution has a knack for sniffing out high-potential deals and putting its venture capital coffers to work. Mobile phone music discovery service Shazam could have a liquidity event coming, according to the Financial Times, which caught Kleiner Perkins' attention. So, the VC company has decided to take a stake in Shazam.

Continue reading Kleiner Perkins takes a piece of Shazam, fingers crossed for an IPO

Private equity biz back in action

Up until the credit crisis, private equity firms had it made. They had plenty of leverage to play with and could load up their acquisition targets with it. So, they could realize a fantastic return on equity, mitigate their own risks, and show that they were the studs of the Street.

Then, all that went away. Credit markets dried up, and private equity companies lost their acquisition fuel. The numbers aren't as big as they used to be, but it looks like the private equity market is back in action.

Continue reading Private equity biz back in action

Blackstone ready for recovery with exit strategy of sales and IPOs

The private equity industry has been through the worst, but now it seems the situation is taking a turn for the better. Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone (NYSE: BX) expects deal flow and IPOs to bounce, saying the economy is showing "more than green shoots" of recovery.

Schwarzman, speaking at the Super Return Middle East conference in Dubai, doesn't expect another slip into recession, but the full recovery will take time, for all the same reasons you've been reading on BloggingStocks for a while: tighter lending standards; uncooperative consumers who won't spend beyond their means and so on.

Continue reading Blackstone ready for recovery with exit strategy of sales and IPOs

Blackstone (BX) planning to shed up to 13 companies

BX logoThe Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX - option chain) shares are rising today on reports that the buy-out firm is planning to unload a number of its portfolio companies, including TeamHealth, which provides outsourcing services for the health-care industry, and Merlin Entertainments Group, of Europe, which owns Legoland and Sea Life. Up to eight IPOs and five sales to private equity companies are in the works. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on BX.

Blackstone opened Monday at $15.50. In morning trading the stock hit a low of $15.50 and a high of $16.18. As of 11:15, BX was trading at $15.79 up 0.94 (6.3%). The chart for BX looks bullish.

Continue reading Blackstone (BX) planning to shed up to 13 companies

Investors double-down on Verisk IPO

Verisk Analytics isn't a catchy name but it has caught the interest of investors. The data analytics company was able to issue 85.25 million shares at $22 each for its IPO, raising a cool $1.9 billion. So far in today's trading, the shares of the company are up 30% to $28.59.

Basically, Verisk helps businesses deal with risk, with the main focus on property & casualty exposures. For example, the company's models can help predict the loss of a building due to a fire.

Continue reading Investors double-down on Verisk IPO

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Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-14.2810,318.16
NASDAQ-10.782,146.04
S&P 500-3.521,091.38

Last updated: November 21, 2009: 10:05 AM

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