The IPO market is off to a rough start so far in 2010.  We have seen very recent developments in deals on deck to price from CBOE Holdings Inc., Convio Inc., Everyday Health Inc., FriendFinder Networks Inc., Generac Holdings Inc., Graham Packaging Co., HealthPort Inc., IFM Investments Ltd., Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc., JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd., Motricity Inc., Prometheus Laboratories Inc., QuinStreet Inc., and Ryerson Holding Corp. all have significant developments in their quests to come public.

This has many implications for public companies such as The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) via Intel Capital and Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) via Qualcomm Ventures, and Novartis (NYSE: NVS).  Below is a brief update on each IPO on the docket.

CBOE Holdings Inc., the parent of  the Chicago Board Options Exchange, has seen a tapering off of the pre-IPO value based upon two exchange seat sales in the last week.  A seat at the CBOE sold for $2.625 million this week according to Dow Jones, after a seat went for $2.7 million last week.  Earlier this month a seat sold for $2.825 million.  According to our calculations on a all-in seat value of 930 seats, that generates an implied exchange value of $2.441 billion versus $2.627 billion earlier this month.  This IPO is not due until mid-year, so this may be premature.

Convio Inc. is an online constituent relationship management provider that sells mainly to non-profit groups.  This will trade under the ticker “CNVO” on NASDAQ and Piper Jaffray and Thomas Weisel were co-lead managers.  It plans to raise $57.5 million in the IPO, although this needs to be double-checked because we saw up $86 million in an IPO filing that was withdrawn after a 2007 filing.  You know why… unfavorable market conditions.

Everyday Health Inc., a VC-backed health information site for health-conscious consumers, recently filed for a $100 million IPO.  The company plans to trade under the stock ticker “EVDY” on NASDAQ.  Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are the co-lead managers of the deal.

FriendFinder Networks Inc. has reportedly moved its IPO to next week (if not later).  The social network, sort of, for dating and finding sex hook-up partners will trade under the ticker “FFN” on the NYSE.  We had already noted how the size of the offering was cut severely.  The reason the deal is delayed is because of requests from the SEC according to reports.

Generac Holdings Inc. is a maker of standby and portable generators.  This is a private equity-backed IPO bought in late 2006.  It has bumped up the proposed IPO size to over $427 million from $300 million and the proposed ticker is “GNRC” on NYSE… J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs are co-lead managers.

Graham Packaging Co. is a maker of plastic containers, and owned by The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX).  Terms were initially set at 23.3 million shares between $14 and $16 per share under the NYSE ticker of “GRM”… Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank are the lead underwriters.

HealthPort Inc. has recently canceled its plans for an IPO because of poor market conditions.  The medical record management company had planned a stock sale  of up to $100 million.

IFM Investments Ltd. is set to trade Thursday under the stock ticker “CTC” on the NYSE.  The Chinese real estate player is under a Century 21 franchise agreement to sell real estate in China.  It now plans to sell 12.5 million ADSs between $7 and $8 per share, but this is under a prior range of $8.75 to $10.75 and under the prior 16+ million shares originally shown.  If China is cutting down on its loans, how good can business be?

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. filed at the end of 2009 for an IPO and has recently set the terms of the IPo at 16.6 million shares in a range of $14 to $16 per share.  This one will trade as “IRWD” on NASDAQ and joint book-runners are J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Credit Suisse.  This company is the parent of Microbia, Inc., with a validated technology platform that enables it to produce specialty ingredients and industrial biomaterials from renewable resources.

JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. is a VC-backed developer of silicon wafers in China for use in solar panels.  The company filed to raise up to a $100 million and plans to trade on the NYSE with the “JKS” stock ticker.  Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse were listed as the co-leads on the deal.

Motricity Inc. is a provider of mobile data solutions that enable wireless carriers and enterprises to deliver mobile data services to their subscribers and customers.  It has recently filed recently to raise up to $250 million in a sale of common stock in its IPO and plans to trade under the “MOTR” stock ticker on NASDAQ.  Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are the co-lead managers.  Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) via Intel Capital and Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) via Qualcomm Ventures are VC-backers, and Carl Icahn was listed as a backing owner as well.

Prometheus Laboratories Inc. is a drug and diagnostics company that acquired the U.S. licensing rights covering the Novartis (NYSE: NVS) kidney cancer drug Proleukin for terms that were not seen but include up-front payment(s) and potential payments upon reaching certain milestones.  We have the registration being up to $100 million stock being sold by the VC-backed company.

QuinStreet Inc. is a provider of vertical marketing solutions online and will sell 10 million common shares at $17 to $19 per share.  We had penciled in up to $250 million  originally.  The firm will trade under the “QNST” stock ticker on NASDAQ.  Credit Suisse, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and J.P. Morgan are co-lead underwriters.

Ryerson Holding Corp. is a recently filed IPO for the metals processor to raise up to $350 million under the stock ticker “RYI”on the NYSE.  This one was taken private by Platinum Equity in 2007 with a price tag of close to $2 billion.  Its S-1 filing with the SEC showed us no listed underwriters.

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JON C. OGG

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