Continue reading Zipcar Revs Up for Its IPO

Zipcar Revs Up for Its IPO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's the last week for the IPO market but investors don't want it to end -- at least for Chinese deals. The latest: iSoftStone Holding (ISS). This information technology services company priced its offering at $13, which was at the top of its $11 too $13 range. In Tuesday morning trading, the shares were up 30%.

iSoftStone provides its high-end consulting services to four main industry verticals, which include technology, communications, financial services and energy. No doubt, these are growing categories in China. In all, there are 71 clients.

Continue reading iSoftStone Continues the Chinese IPO Surge

iSoftStone Continues the Chinese IPO Surge originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Option Volume Revs Up on General Motors

Option Volume Revs Up on General Motors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The long awaited General Motors initial public offering is coming. According to the Financial Times, GM shares will be priced on Nov. 17 and begin trading the next day.

GM common shares are expected to be priced at between $26 and $29 per share. GM plans to raise between $9.5 billion and $10.6 billion. If demand is strong enough GM will issue more shares.

Continue reading GM IPO Set for November 17

GM IPO Set for November 17 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Tesla IPO: Hot Stock or Portfolio Shock?

Tesla IPO: Hot Stock or Portfolio Shock? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Options Update: BP Volatility Elevated; Fitch Downgrades Debt originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Citigroup's (C) spinoff of Primerica is set for this week. The company consists independent life insurance and sales reps. Primerica is going on the block so Citigroup can lower its debt and simplify its operations.

Previous sales by the bank include its commodities trading group, some credit card business and its Japanese brokerage. Primerica hopes to raise $234 million in the initial public offering, with 18 million shares being sent out to the world with a hopeful price of $12 to $14 each.

Continue reading Citi Spinoff Primerica IPO This Week

Citi Spinoff Primerica IPO This Week originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Every day now brings with it 50 million tweets, according to Twitter's blog. And that number specifically excludes tweets from spammers. In 2007, daily volume was a mere 5,000. Every second, 600 tweets are unleased.

There is no shortage of 140-character outbursts, putting the microblogging site in direct competition with social media behemoth Facebook for ownership of the social media user's most current thoughts. Facebook boasts more than 60 million daily status updates, despite having a 400 million-strong user base that dwarfs Twitter's nearly 60 million. The fact that Twitter is so much smaller than Facebook only makes its ownership of the status update more compelling.

Continue reading Twitter Gaining Ground on Facebook for Status Update Field

Twitter Gaining Ground on Facebook for Status Update Field originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Look for a LinkedIn IPO, but not in the near future. Company co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman has revealed his (and his investors') exit strategy, even if it could take a while to get there. Any social media company IPO would take a while to get off the ground in this market, since companies are being incredibly cautious. So, "not anytime soon" could coincide with a change in market conditions ... but Hoffman stopped well short of that.

At an event in London to celebrate LinkedIn's hitting the 3 million user mark in Britain, Hoffman said about the company's IPO prospects, "Probably at some point a balance will occur when that's the right thing. That will not occur in the near term." Worldwide, LinkedIn has 53 million members.

Continue reading Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)

Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Primerica IPO: Citigroup unwinds its far-flung empire originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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?

Hyatt and Ancestry.com IPOs: Beginners' luck? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Ancestry.com explores an IPO

Ancestry.com explores an IPO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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 ready for recovery with exit strategy of sales and IPOs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Twitter's much-hyped $100 million round of financing closed Friday, cementing the company's (illiquid) value at $1 billion, though Twitter itself would not confirm the amount. T. Rowe Price and Insight Venture Partners participated in the deal, as expected, which is believed to be a precursor to an eventual liquidity event -- such as an IPO or acquisition.

In a way, it feels like 1999, where you have investors rushing to invest in high-profile companies, despite the absence of revenue models. Yet, Twitter may not be as bad off as the traditional folks think, especially if the goal is an acquisition. The company does say that it's pursuing revenue via corporate accounts. But, it's been saying this for a while, and we haven't seen anything yet. Also, it's leaving open the possibility of running ads on the site, though this wouldn't happen within the next three months.

Continue reading Twitter closes new round -- what's next?

Twitter closes new round -- what's next? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) reported this morning that one of its subsidiaries has filed an application to list its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The move was widely expected, as LVS CEO Sheldon Adelson said in July that the casino firm was considering an initial public offering (IPO) or sale of its Macau assets.

"No decisions have been made regarding the timing or terms of any such offering or whether the subsidiary will ultimately proceed with such a transaction," reported LVS in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Continue reading Las Vegas Sands files for Hong Kong IPO of Macau unit

Las Vegas Sands files for Hong Kong IPO of Macau unit originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Found an interesting article from the Associated Press while I was watching Gene Simmons Family Jewels last night (fun episode, Shannon on painkillers buying Ginsu knives and Gene trying to figure out how to stimulate the economy -- by ringing the opening bell). The article says Scott Painter and business partner Greg Brogger have started a group called SharesPost.

This vehicle was launched publicly in June and allows Painter to try and sell shares in companies he helped found, which includes car pricing start-up TrueCar.com. However, Painter wants to go further, backing an idea allowing insiders to sell shares in companies before their initial public offering (IPO). A couple of the companies Painter is interested in include Twitter and LinkedIn (sites you may be familiar with).

Continue reading Want to invest in a company before its IPO?

Want to invest in a company before its IPO? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mergers and acquisitions aren't delivering the fees that investment bankers used to enjoy, but fortunately, the money's coming from elsewhere. Data from Thomson Reuters reports a 29% increase in capital markets and M&A fees for the first time in more than a year. Share sales (e.g., rights offerings) were where dealmakers found the action. In the shrinking M&A space, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) has taken the lead spot.

Since there are fewer banks in the marketplace than there were a year ago -- and they have less money -- the capital is starting to come from elsewhere. Because they aren't lending at their previous pace, companies are issuing bonds and equity to replenish their coffers. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), for example, raked in more than $23 billion from the bond market to fund its acquisition of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), and Roche nabbed Genentech with the help of a $30 billion debt issuance.

Continue reading M&A plunges, investment banks find money elsewhere

M&A plunges, investment banks find money elsewhere originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

IPO. Initial public offering. Or as they used to be known among the Wall Street cynics: "It's probably overpriced." Not any more. Nothing that is too expensive will fly these days. In fact, if it's not a bargain, don't bother to talk with the bankers. Investors want history, especially ones with increasing sales and profits.

The year 2009 has already produced more IPOs than all of 2008. Sound impressive? Here are the numbers: this year there have been seven. So there aren't a lot of companies going public right now, but still, there are some. And most of them are doing well.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Remember IPOs? They're back ... sorta

Comfort Zone Investing: Remember IPOs? They're back ... sorta originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 30 May 2009 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

OpenTable Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) came into the world with a bang on Thursday, shooting from $20 a share to a peak of $33 before settling down for the week at $28.75. A 44% gain makes this the second strong initial public offering (IPO) for a venture-backed company, following the SolarWinds Inc. (NYSE: SWI) debut the day before.

Originally, OpenTable planned a price range of $12 to $14, which crept up to $16 to $18, and eventually to its final level of $20.

Continue reading Can OpenTable keep its early gains?

Can OpenTable keep its early gains? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 24 May 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With the slowing US economy, it's been tough for retailers. Yet, there are some that are bucking the trend.

An example is Metropark, which is a fashion-conscious retailer focused on the 20 to 35 year-old demographic. Metropark believes that its market segment is underserved - and poised for much more growth, so today the company has also filed to go public.

In fact, the Metropark store environment is much like a stylish night club with regular live performances by disc jockeys and the sales personnel that are called "Style Consultants."

Some of the premium brands offered include: Acrylic, Affliction, Ed Hardy, English Laundry, Monarchy, Obey, Rock & Republic and True Religion.

No doubt, Metropark's growth has been particularly strong. In 2004, the company launched with four stores. Now, there are 43 stores in 17 states. From 2005 to 2007, revenues have gone from $11.5 million to $71.6 million.

Metropark also has a stellar management team. The company's CEO and founder, Orval Madden, was the mastermind behind Hot Topic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTT).

The lead underwriter on the IPO is Goldman, Sachs & Co. (NYSE: GS) and the proposed ticker symbol is "MTPK." You can locate the prospectus at the SEC website.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Metropark USA, an edgy retailer, preps for IPO thrill originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.