IPO Calendar to Get More Crowded After Labor Day

For the year to date, a total of 59 initial public offerings (IPOs) have taken place, raising some $9.8 billion for the newly public firms. The total represents a 56% drop in the number compared with the first eight months of 2015 and a similar drop in proceeds, down from $22.6 billion.

The outlook is brighter for the rest of the year, though, according to IPO ETF manager Renaissance Capital. Analysts there reported Thursday that there are 100 companies that have publicly filed for IPOs and they are looking to raise a combined total of $24 billion.

There are eight tech firms in the IPO pipeline, according to Renaissance Capital, including infrastructure company Nutanix, which has filed for an IPO of around $200 million, and PointClickCare, a cloud-based software-as-a-service provider that has filed to raise an estimated $100 million. Only nine tech firms have held IPOs so far in 2016, the lowest number since 2008.

In the consumer products sector some well-known names are in the pipeline. Valvoline lubricants and quick lube centers are estimated by Renaissance Capital to be seeking $800 million, while top-of-the-line cooler maker Yeti could raise up to $500 million. Acushnet, maker of Titleist golf balls and gear, could try to raise $300 million. So far this year six consumer companies have come public.

[nativounit]

The largest potential deal in the IPO pipeline is private-equity backed Athene Holding, a life insurance and annuity company that could raise up to $1 billion. Another insurer, China-based Ironshore, could go out for $500 million and oilfield services company Noble Energy’s midstream spinoff Noble Midstream Partners could be the first energy sector IPO of the entire year.

Another potential energy IPO is Extraction Oil & Gas, which has filed confidentially and has an estimated valuation of $3 billion. A company that provides a platform for automated bidding and trading of online ads, AppNexus, has also filed confidentially and could raise up to $250 million at an estimated valuation of $1.5 billion.

Renaissance Capital sums up:

We expect 35-45 IPOs in the remainder of the year, putting 2016 on track for 100 deals raising about $15 billion. The reception of the first wave of IPOs after Labor Day, and the potential for some market friction around the upcoming election and future Fed meetings, will likely impact whether IPO issuance comes in at the low or high end of that range. Even at the high end of our estimates, the 2016 US IPO market will go down as the least active year since the financial crisis and will most likely trail both 2008 and 2009 in terms of proceeds raised.

[wallst_email_signup]