The summer doldrums have taken the wind from the sails of an already slow market for initial public offerings (IPOs). Just one blank check company came public last week and only one healthcare company is on the calendar for the coming week.
Greece-based blank check company Stellar Acquisition III Inc. (NASDAQ: STLRU) sold 6.5 million units at $10 per unit last week, raising $65 million. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase an additional share at a price of $11.50, subject to certain conditions. Once the units are separated into common stock and warrants, the securities will trade under the ticker symbols STLR and STLRW, respectively.
Through the week ending August 19, IPO ETF manager Renaissance Capital reported that 59 IPOs have priced in the U.S. so far this year, down 55% from a year ago. Total proceeds raised through last week equaled $9.8 billion, down more than 56% compared with the same period in 2015. Of the 59 IPOs that have gone off this year, 30 have come from the healthcare sector. Last year’s IPO total came in at $30 billion on 170 offerings. Renaissance Capital does not include “best efforts” or blank-check companies in its totals, nor does it include IPOs that raise less than $10 million.
The coming week’s sole IPO is AzurRx Biopharma Inc. which is developing non-systemic biologics for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. The company plans to offer 2.1 million shares in an expected price range of $6 to $8 to raise $15 million at an implied market cap of around $76 million. Joint bookrunners for the offering are WallachBeth Capital and Network 1 Financial Securities. Shares are expected to price Thursday and begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AZRX.
Continuing to be listed as day-to day is Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing therapeutic agents to treat and prevent certain pre-cancerous conditions, orphan diseases, and gastrointestinal conditions. The company downsized it offering from 1.9 million shares to 1.25 million in an expected price range of $12 to $14 to raise $16.3 million at an implied market cap of $87.9 million. Sole bookrunner for the offering is Aegis Capital Corp. Shares are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CPP.
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