After an impressive IPO from GoDaddy last week, up to three IPOs could price this week. It appears unlikely that any will raise over $50 million.
ViewRay (VRAY) had planned to go public during the last two weeks and will have another go at the IPO this week. Backed by OrbiMed, Aisling Capital and Fidelity, it markets the only approved MRI-guided radiation therapy system, but in 2014 had negative gross margins and less than $10 million in sales. As pointed out in the 1Q 2015 US IPO Market Review, early-stage medical device companies had a challenging time in the IPO market.
Wowo (WOWO) has been on the IPO calendar for the past month, but recently amended its offering documents, reducing the maximum proposed deal size and removing its status as a "best efforts" IPO with a min/max share count. Once the "Groupon of China," Wowo now runs an online mall where small businesses operate digital storefronts. Its financials are as of September 30, 2014.
Yulong Eco-Materials (YECO) is a leading brick and concrete maker in Pingdingshan, a city in the Henan Province of mainland China with a population of over 5 million.
Recently, microcap Chinese consumer goods manufacturer Tantech Holdings (TANH) - which was marketed as a best efforts offering - priced at the low end of the range and popped 100% on its first day, albeit on low trading volume. It immediately fell 15% but finished last week with a total gain of 106%.
IPO pipeline update
If the IPO market is slow this week for pricings, filing activity could make up for it. Five companies set terms on Monday morning, including Party City (PRTY), Virtu Financial (VIRT) and Aduro Biotech (ADRO). Last week, there were 10 initial filings, including 5 in the health care sector and 2 LBOs - TransUnion (TRUN.RC) and Milacron (MCRN). High-growth retailer DAVIDsTEA (DTEA) also filed. Online vintage goods marketplace Etsy (ETSY) was added to the IPO calendar for next week.
| Renaissance Capital's IPO Calendar - Week of 4/6/2015 | ||||
| Issuer Business |
Symbol Exchange |
Deal Size $mil |
Price Range Shares Filed |
Top 2 bookrunners |
| ViewRay Oakwood Village, OH |
VRAY NASDAQ |
$52 | $12 - 14 4,000,000 |
Cowen & Company Stifel |
| Markets the first and only FDA-approved MRI-guided radiation therapy system. | ||||
| Wowo Beijing, China |
WOWO NASDAQ |
$45 | $9 - 11 4,500,000 |
Axiom Capital |
| Operates an online mall connecting Chinese merchants and consumers. | ||||
| Yulong Eco-Materials Pingdingshan, China |
YECO NASDAQ |
$15 | $6.25 - 7.25 2,250,000 |
Axiom Capital Northland Securities |
| Chinese producer of fly-ash bricks and concrete used in construction. | ||||
Find out why institutional investors rely on Renaissance Capital's Pre-IPO Research for these IPOs.
Follow us on Twitter (@IPOtweet) for IPO news as it happens and register for our updates on the IPO market.
IPO market snapshot
The Renaissance IPO Index, a market cap weighted basket of newly public companies that is designed to represent the US IPO market, has traded up over 6% year-to-date, compared to 0% for the S&P 500. This suggests that the IPO market remains open to new issuance heading into the 2Q 2015. Renaissance Capital's IPO ETF (NYSE: IPO) tracks the index, and top ETF holdings include Twitter (TWTR), Alibaba (BABA), Hilton (HLT), Ally Financial (ALLY) and Voya Financial (VOYA). To find out if this is the best ETF for you, visit our IPO investing page.
