As many as seven small IPOs could price in the week ahead. Software unicorn Qualtrics (XM) had been the week's headliner, before SAP announced an $8 billion acquisition on Sunday night.
While eight deals may sound like a busy week, two are blank check companies, one is a newly-formed investment vehicle for uranium (Uranium Trading Corp., UTC) one is a 100% pre-sold Chinese deal (Weidai, WEI), one is currently listed in Taiwan (Taiwan Liposome Company, TLC) and another has been on the IPO calendar for a month (Alzheon, ALZH).
The two other deals have strong management teams: Chronic pain biotech Centrexion Therapeutics (CNTX) is led by former Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler, while the CEO of medical device maker Vapotherm (VAPO) sold his last company to Medtronic for over $500 million. However, the market for non-opioid pain drugs has been challenging, while Vapotherm has been held back by low gross margins and lumpy sales growth.
The market's recent volatility is still hurting issuance, and we'll need to see new initial filings before we can expect a more active December. A positive sign came on Friday, when five companies filed, including biotech behemoth Moderna Therapeutics (MRNA).
| U.S. IPO Calendar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Issuer Business |
Deal Size Market Cap |
Price Range Shares Filed |
Top Bookrunners |
| Alzheon (ALZH) Framingham, MA |
$30M $82M |
$4 - $6 6,000,000 |
ThinkEquity HC Wainwright |
| Phase 3 biotech developing small molecule therapies for Alzheimer's disease. | |||
| Vapotherm (VAPO) Exeter, NH |
$60M $254M |
$14 - $16 4,000,000 |
BofA ML William Blair |
| Provides noninvasive breathing aids to treat respiratory distress. | |||
| Centrexion Therapeutics (CNTX) Boston, MA |
$75M $354M |
$14 - $16 5,000,000 |
BofA ML Leerink Partners |
| Developing non-opioid therapies for chronic pain. | |||
| Weidai (WEI) Hangzhou, China |
$45M $700M |
$9 - $11 4,500,000 |
Morgan Stanley Citi |
| Provides an auto-secured loan platform for small businesses in China. | |||
| AMCI Acquisition (AMCIU) Greenwich, CT |
$200M $250M |
$10 20,000,000 |
Jefferies |
| Blank check company formed by coal industry veteran Hans Mende. | |||
| FinTech Acquisition III (FTACU) Philadelphia, PA |
$275M $355M |
$10 27,500,000 |
Cantor Fitz. |
| Blank check company formed by management of The Bancorp to acquire a financial technology business. | |||
| Uranium Trading (UTC) El Segundo, CA |
$50M $54M |
$10 - $12 4,545,455 |
B. Riley FBR |
| Newly-formed vehicle investing in the civil uranium market. | |||
| Taiwan Lipsome Company (TLC) Taipei City, Taiwan |
$29M $192M |
$5.80 5,000,000 |
Cantor Fitz. |
| Developing lipid formulations of approved drugs for pain and eye disease. | |||
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Centrexion Therapeutics (CNTX), which is developing non-opioid therapies for chronic pain, plans to raise $75 million by offering 5.0 million shares at a price range of $14.00 to $16.00. Insiders intend to purchase up to $30 million of the IPO (40% of the deal). At the midpoint of the proposed range, it would command a market value of $354 million. Founded in 2013, the Boston, MA-based company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol CNTX. BofA Merrill Lynch, Leerink Partners and Evercore ISI are the joint bookrunners on the deal.
Vapotherm (VAPO), which provides noninvasive breathing aids to treat respiratory distress, plans to raise $60 million by offering 4.0 million shares at a price range of $14.00 to $16.00. At the midpoint of the proposed range, it would command a market value of $254 million. Vapotherm, which was founded in 1993, booked $41 million in sales over the last 12 months. The Exeter, NH-based company plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol VAPO. BofA Merrill Lynch and William Blair are the joint bookrunners on the deal.
Weidai (WEI), which provides an auto-secured loan platform for small businesses in China, plans to raise $45 million by offering 4.5 million shares at a price range of $9.00 to $11.00. Outside investors have indicated an interest in buying up to $50 million of the IPO (111% of deal). At the midpoint of the proposed range, it would command a market value of $700 million. Weidai, which was founded in 2011, booked $3.9 billion in sales over the last 12 months. The Hangzhou, China-based company plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol WEI. Morgan Stanley and Citi are the joint bookrunners on the deal.
Uranium Trading Corp. (UTC), a newly-formed vehicle investing in the civil uranium market, plans to raise roughly $50 million by offering about 4.5 million shares at a price range of $10.00 to $12.00. At the midpoint of the proposed range, it would command a market value of $54 million. Uranium Trading Corp., which was formed in 2018, has not booked revenue. The El Segundo, CA-based company plans to list on the NYSE American under the symbol UTC. B. Riley FBR is the lead bookrunner on the deal.
Alzheon (ALZH), a Phase 3 biotech developing small molecule therapies for Alzheimer's disease, plans to raise $30 million by offering 6.0 million shares at a price range of $4.00 to $6.00. At the $5.00 midpoint, Alzheon would command a market value of $82 million. The Framingham, MA-based company was founded in 2013 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol ALZH. ThinkEquity and H.C. Wainwright are the joint bookrunners on the deal.
Taiwan Liposome Company (TLC), which is developing lipid formulations of approved drugs for pain and eye disease, plans to raise $29 million by offering 5.0 million ADSs at a price of $5.80. Insiders intend to purchase up to $20 million worth of the IPO (69% of the deal). At $5.80, Taiwan Liposome will command a market value of $192 million. The Taipei City, Taiwan-based company was founded in 1997. Currently listed on the Taipei Exchange (TPEx: 4152), the biotech plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol TLC. Cantor Fitzgerald is the sole bookrunner on the deal.
AMCI Acquisition (AMCIU), a blank check company formed by coal industry veteran Hans Mende, plans to raise $200 million by offering 20 million units at a price of $10. Each unit will consist of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one share at $11.50. At the proposed price, AMCI Acquisition would command a market value of $250 million. The Greenwich, CT-based company was founded in 2018 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol AMCIU. Jefferies is the sole bookrunner on the deal.
FinTech Acquisition III (FTACU), a blank check company formed by management of The Bancorp to acquire a financial technology business, plans to raise $275 million by offering 27.5 million units at $10. Each unit will consist of one share of common stock and one half of one warrant to purchase one share of common stock at $11.50. At $10, FinTech Acquisition III would command a market value of $355 million. The Philadelphia, PA-based company was founded in 2017 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol FTACU. Cantor Fitzgerald is the sole bookrunner on the deal.
Renaissance Capital will have Pre-IPO Research available on each of these upcoming IPOs prior to its pricing.
IPO Market Snapshot
The Renaissance IPO Indices are market cap weighted baskets of newly public companies. As of 11/8/18, the Renaissance IPO Index was down 3.3% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 had a gain of 6.7%. Renaissance Capital's IPO ETF (NYSE: IPO) tracks the index, and top ETF holdings include VICI Properties (VICI) and Spotify (SPOT). The Renaissance International IPO Index was down 14.4% year-to-date, while the ACWX was down 8.1%. Renaissance Capital’s International IPO ETF (NYSE: IPOS) tracks the index, and top ETF holdings include Siemens Healthineers and innogy.
