FeedPosted Nov 6th 2009 11:00AM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Citigroup Inc. (C), Initial public offerings
Being 34% owned by the U.S. government,
Citigroup's (NYSE:
C) destiny is somewhat murky. Yet, to pay off the loans, this massive financial institution must shrink. To this end, Citigroup has
filed a public offering for its Primerica Financial Services. According to the prospectus, the deal is expected to raise $100 million, but it's likely the amount will be much larger.
Primerica certainly has an interesting history. Back in 1977, an aggressive financial service executive, Arthur Williams, started the company, with the focus on providing term insurance to consumers as well as mutual fund products. However, he had an interesting twist on distribution: he used network marketing. Basically, a Primerica agent would get incentives by recruiting new agents. As a result, the company's growth exploded.
Continue reading Primerica IPO: Citigroup unwinds its far-flung empire
Posted Nov 6th 2009 9:40AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Deals, NYSE Euronext (NYX), News Corp'B' (NWS), Initial public offerings
The IPO market has been pretty slow for the past two years due to the effects of a subprime mortgage crisis that turned into a credit crisis that turned into a worldwide financial crisis and recession. Nonetheless, two companies made their debuts Thursday -- one on the NYSE (NYSE: NYX), the other on the NASDAQ -- and they nailed it. Hyatt Hotels (NYSE: H) gave its investors a 12% gain on its first Big Board trading day, and Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM) switched those digits, jumping 21% in its first day of trading.
Hyatt Hotels overcame two major concerns. The worldwide travel market slump has been tough on hotel companies, and Hyatt has been subject to the same forces as everyone else. Also, investors may have been worried about infighting among the founder's heirs (the Pritzker family), but the double-digit price increase suggests that investors don't foresee Bancroft-style squabbles screwing investors -- or, if you don't like Dow Jones, now a part of News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS), Playboy (NYSE: PLA) makes the same point.
Continue reading Hyatt and Ancestry.com IPOs: Beginners' luck?
Posted Oct 16th 2009 2:00PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: China, Initial public offerings
From 2004 to 2008, the total gross floor area of residential properties sold in China increased at 13.4% annually. Some of the drivers included: improved property rights, government reforms, rapid urbanization and rising affluence.
As a result, there is lots of demand for useful real estate data and consulting services. And, the leading provider is China Real Estate Information.
Well, today the company
went public in the US, raising $216 million. The IPO price was $12 (between the price range of $11.80 to $13.80). So far in today's trading, the shares of China Real Estate are up 15% to $13.80.
Continue reading China Real Estate grabs a spot on the NASDAQ
Posted Oct 15th 2009 11:00AM by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Private equity, Blackstone Group L.P (BX), Initial public offerings, Recession
Up until the credit crisis, private equity firms had it made. They had plenty of leverage to play with and could load up their acquisition targets with it. So, they could realize a fantastic return on equity, mitigate their own risks, and show that they were the studs of the Street.
Then, all that went away. Credit markets dried up, and private equity companies lost their acquisition fuel. The numbers aren't as big as they used to be, but it looks like the private equity market is back in action.
Continue reading Private equity biz back in action
Posted Oct 13th 2009 2:50PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Initial public offerings
A railroad IPO? Kind of sounds like we are going back to the 19th century, huh?
But it's true. On Maonday, RailAmerica
launched its IPO. The company issued 22 million shares at $15 each (the price range was $16 to $18).
RailAmerica is the largest owner of short line and regional freight railroads in North America, with about 7,500 miles of track in 27 US states and three Canadian provinces.
All in all, RailAmerica has a diversified base. There are roughly 1,800 customers and the company distributes a myriad of products, like paper, metals, chemical and coal.
Continue reading RailAmerica IPO loses steam
Posted Oct 12th 2009 12:30PM by Brent Archer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Good news, Private equity, Options, Technical Analysis, Blackstone Group L.P (BX), Initial public offerings
The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX - option chain) shares are rising today on reports that the buy-out firm is planning to unload a number of its portfolio companies, including TeamHealth, which provides outsourcing services for the health-care industry, and Merlin Entertainments Group, of Europe, which owns Legoland and Sea Life. Up to eight IPOs and five sales to private equity companies are in the works. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on BX.
Blackstone opened Monday at $15.50. In morning trading the stock hit a low of $15.50 and a high of $16.18. As of 11:15, BX was trading at $15.79 up 0.94 (6.3%). The chart for BX looks bullish.
Continue reading Blackstone (BX) planning to shed up to 13 companies
Posted Oct 2nd 2009 4:45PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Initial public offerings
Education Management Corp., a for-profit provider of post-secondary education, has hit the IPO market once again (the first public offering was in the mid 1990s). This time, the company has
issued 20 million shares at $18 per share. The price range was $18 to $20.
Education Management owns 92 schools across the country, including organizations like the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Brown Mackie Colleges and Argosy University. In all, there are about 111,000 students.
Interestingly enough, Education Management went private back in June 2006, in a $3.4 billion deal. The private equity sponsors included
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:
GS) and Providence Equity.
Continue reading Education Management: goes back to IPO school
Posted Sep 30th 2009 3:30PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), Initial public offerings
Last week, we saw
Shanda Games Ltd. (NASDAQ:
GAME) raise a cool $1 billion in
its IPO.
And today, there was another big-time offering: Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings
picked up $950 in its IPO (issuing 50 million shares at $19 each). This is the second largest IPO of 2009.
Talecris is one of the largest producers/marketers of plasma-derived protein therapies, dealing with things like chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), primary immune deficiencies (PI), alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, bleeding disorders, and severe trauma.
Continue reading Talecris: Another mega IPO hits the markets
Next Page »
When it comes to the Internet, few consumers are willing to pay for services -- especially during the current economic hard times. Yet, there are still some websites that are able to get people to fork over their hard-earned money. One example is Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM), which provides extensive data and tools to research family histories.
Founded in 1999, 
When you smell an 
Verisk Analytics isn't a catchy name but it has caught the interest of investors. The data analytics company was able to issue 85.25 million shares at $22 each for its 
In the U.S., the outsourced healthcare professional staffing market is about $50 billion. And, it is likely to grow because of the complexity of regulations and cost pressures.
While the federal government plans to spend more on healthcare, the fact remains that the sector will continue to remain under cost pressures. It certainly doesn't help that the US economy continues to be mired in an economic morass. 
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