While the dollar value of IPO activity fell by more than half in July, this week could be the biggest for IPOs since Facebook went to market in May, with six IPOs and more than $1 bn in offerings planned, according to global market data provider Ipreo.
Headlining this week in US IPOs will be British soccer club Manchester United, which is seeking $300 mn with its August 9 offering. The IPO, one of six planned for this week, will be the first in the US by a sports club in almost 15 years.
Restaurant chain Bloomin’ Brands, which operates Outback Steakhouses, will also be seeking $300 mn, while CKE, owner of the Carl’s Jr franchise, aims to raise $200 mn, according to Ipreo.
The IPOs follow a lackluster July, when 11 IPOs raised a combined total of $1.3 bn – less than half the $2.8 bn raised by 14 IPOs in the same month in 2011, according to Ipreo’s Monthly US IPO Brief. Ten issuers postponed or canceled planned IPOs last month, seven more than in July last year.
The largest IPO by cash value last month was Northern Tier Energy, which raised $261 mn, followed by Palo Alto Networks, which raised $260 mn.
Ipreo points out that, although down sharply on a year earlier, IPO activity in July picked up from only four IPOs in June this year.
‘This year’s robust display of tech debuts cooled slightly last month, as only three deals from the sector priced for an average of $140.6 mn,’ Ipreo writes.
‘On the upside, July saw a healthy resurgence from the consumer cyclical sector, as four restaurants and retail issuers tapped the public markets.’
In the first seven months of the year, IPO activity fell 4 percent in terms of cash value to $30.9 bn, from $32.4 bn in the same period last year.
A much steeper decline was prevented by Facebook’s IPO, which raised $16 bn in May, accounting for more than half of the money raised in IPOs so far this year.
The number of IPOs in the first seven months of the year fell to 83, including six international IPOs, from 95, including 20 international IPOs, in the year-earlier period.
The Facebook IPO also made the technology and telecom sector the biggest for IPOs so far this year, raising a total of $19.3 bn.
It was followed by financials, which raised $3.5 bn, an increase of 14.5 percent on the first seven months of last year, according to Ipreo.
The energy sector came third, raising $2.2 bn that, nonetheless, marks a 61.6 percent drop from the first seven months of 2011.
Morgan Stanley was the leading bookrunner in the first seven months of the year with a volume of $4.39 bn, just ahead of Goldman Sachs with $4.36 bn for and JPMorgan with $3.4 bn, Ipreo says.
