Through the week ending August 14, IPO ETF manager Renaissance Capital reported that 130 IPOs have priced in the United States so far this year, down about 31% from a year ago. Total proceeds raised through last week equaled $22.3 billion, down about 45% compared with the same period in 2014. Of the 130 IPOs that have gone off this year, 57 have come from the health care sector. Last year’s IPO total came in at $85.2 billion, the highest total in the past 10 years. Renaissance Capital does not include “best efforts” or blank check companies in its totals.
Last week’s largest one-day pop was posted by Global Blood Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: GBT), which priced at $20 a share, well above its expected range of $16 to $18 and more than doubled on its first day of trading. The stock closed the week with a gain of 128%. A mid-cap investment bank, Houlihan Lokey Inc. (NYSE: HLI), priced below its expected range of $22 to $24 at $21 and got a first-day pop of 7% before finishing the week up 8%. Conifer Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CNFR) also priced below its expected range of $11 to $13 at $10.50, and it closed the week flat.
Aimmune Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: AIMT) gained 51% on its first day of trading and finished the week up 44%. Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ZYNE) closed on Friday up 75%. Planet Fitness Inc. (NYSE: PLNT) rose 14% on two days of trading after a rocky start on Thursday.
Returning for another third try this week is GC Aesthetics, an Ireland-based pure-play female aesthetics company. The company plans to offer 5.4 million shares in an IPO price range of $13 to $15 to raised about $75 million at an implied market cap of $242.2 million. Joint bookrunners for the offering are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Cowen. Co-manager is William Blair. Shares are listed as day-to-day and are set to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol GCAA.
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