Investing

IPO News This Week: Amazon Supplier, Fracking Firm to Lead-Off 2018

Paul Ausick

Published: January 7, 2018 8:59 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 4:44 am

The first week of the new year did not see any initial public offerings (IPOs), but there was plenty of action nonetheless as several companies lined up to enter the public markets.

IPO ETF manager Renaissance Capital noted that privately security services giant ADT has set terms to raise $2 billion at a market cap of $14 billion. Apollo Management took the company private in May 2016. The IPO is expected to price in the week of January 15.

The other big news was the confidential IPO filing from streaming music service Spotify. The company is believed to have chosen to hold a direct listing, a go-to-market strategy that does not involve raising new capital. Spotify’s pre-IPO market value has been set at around $19 billion even though the company has never turned a profit and continues to burn through cash. The company said last week that it now has 70 million global subscribers.

For 2017, Renaissance Capital reported a total of 160 IPOs, up 52% year over year from 105 in 2016. Total 2017 proceeds amounted to $35.5 billion compared with a 2016 total of $18.8 billion. 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.

There are three IPOs expected to price in the coming week:

Nebula Acquisition Corp. is a blank-check company formed to acquire a technology business. The firm plans to offer 25 million units at $10 per unit to raise $25 million at a market cap of $312.5 million. Each unit comprises one share of Class A common stock and one-third of a redeemable warrant. Underwriters for the offering are Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. Units are scheduled to begin trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol NEBU.U.

Industrial Logistics Properties Trust is a REIT that owns and leases industrial and logistics properties in the United States. The company’s largest customer is Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) which accounted for 10.3% of annualized revenues as of September 30, 2017. The company plans to offer 20 million shares in an expected price range of $28 to $31 to raise $590 million at a market cap of $1.92 billion. Underwriters include UBS Investment Bank, Citi, RBC Capital Markets, BofA/Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Securities, B. Riley & Co., BB&T Capital Markets, Janney Montgomery Scott, JMP Securities, and Oppenheimer & Co. Shares are expected to price Thursday and begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ILPT.

Liberty Oilfield Services Inc. provides hydraulic fracturing (fracking) services to onshore oil & gas exploration & production companies in North America. The company plans to offer 10.7 million shares in an expected price range of $14 to $15 to raise $161 million at a market cap of $1.74 million. Underwriters include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo Securities, Citi, J.P. Morgan, Evercore ISI, Simmons & Co., Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co., Houlihan Lokey, Intrepid Partners, Petrie Partners Securities, and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. Shares are expected to price Thursday and begin trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LBRT.