The US IPO market was revived after a month-long pause this week with seven companies successfully going public and six of seven booking positive returns by Friday's market close.
Online content provider Demand Media (DMD) and consumer behavior measurement company Nielsen Holdings (NLSN) led the group with both deals pricing above their initially proposed ranges on Tuesday night in a sign of strong demand. Nielsen raised $1.6 billion in the largest private equity-backed IPO in the US in at least ten years, while Demand Media raised $151 million and was ranked the largest Internet IPO since Google (based on market value). The two companies were well-received by IPO investors and saw their shares climb 29% and 10%, respectively, by the end of the week.
Demand Media and Nielsen were followed by a wave of companies that began trading on Friday. Of the five, mobile advertising software firm Velti (VELT) was the best performer, ending the day up 30%. Velti is the world's largest independent and integrated player in the space and expects rapid growth as brands turn to mobile advertising for a way to effectively target consumers around the clock. Velti also priced above the range, raising $150 million.
South American agriculture company Adecoagro (AGRO), colocation services provider InterXion (INXN) and Florida-based BankUnited (BKU) also experienced healthy debuts, returning a respective 9%, 6% and 5%. Leading analog chip manufacturer BCD Semiconductor (BCDS), by contrast, traded flat and was the only US IPO that failed to end the week in positive territory. China-based menswear designer Zuoan Fashion (ZA) had also previously scheduled its IPO for this week but ended up pushing back its pricing date to next Monday.
Filing activity remained strong with four more companies revealing pricing terms for their upcoming IPOs (Clarus Therapeutics (CLRS); The Aveon Group (AVO), Fluidigm (FDLM) and Summit Hotel Properties (INN)). This week also saw the much anticipated S-1 filing from LinkedIn (LNKD), the leading professional social networking website with more than 90 million members worldwide.
There are 12 deals scheduled on the US IPO calendar for next week, seven of which are healthcare-related. If all 12 offerings are successfully completed, it will be the busiest week for the US IPO market seen since 2007.
