Success for technology IPOs continued in a big way last week,
as Splunk (SPLK) had the highest first-day return since LinkedIn
(
LNKD
) in May 2010. Its 109% first-day pop contributed to an average
return of 36% for
the week's six pricings
, half of which came from enterprise-focused tech companies.
Unlike earlier in the year, the high returns were not the result
of price cuts: five of six priced above the midpoint and proceeds
for the week were $1.6 billion. In fact, IPO proceeds for the
second quarter ($3.2 billion) are already at more than half the
level of the first ($5.9 billion), and the two largest deals
year-to-date are
scheduled for next month
(The Carlyle Group and Facebook). Activity is equally strong:
even if only half of this week's deals price, there will have
been the most pricings (57) through April since 2000.
Three "big data" companies, Splunk, Infoblox and Proofpoint, all
priced above the range and were trading up at the end of the
week. Splunk, which provides software to enterprises that indexes
unstructured data at massive scale, moved its deal up a day and
priced at $17, 89% above the midpoint of its initial range. It
raised $230 million on Wednesday and was up 110% at the end of
the week. Infoblox (BLOX), which provides software-based
appliances that automate network control for enterprises, raised
$120 million and was up 35%. Proofpoint (PFPT), which provides
on-demand data protection solutions to large and mid-sized
enterprises, raised $82 million and finished the week up 8%.
High-end retail IPOs continued their successful run with Tumi
(TUMI), a premium luggage manufacturer. Like Splunk, it priced a
day early, with a deal size of $338 million, and the first day
return of 47% was the second highest of the week. The two
remaining pricings were both from energy companies. Midstates
Petroleum (MPO), a First Reserve-backed oil and gas E&P with
92 producing wells in Louisiana, priced below the range, raising
$312 million, and was up 15% after its first day of trading.
SandRidge Mississippian Trust II (SDR), a trust formed to own
interests in oil and gas wells in the Mississippian formation,
raised $546 million and traded up 5%.
Four companies made initial filings last week. Chesapeake
Oilfield Services (COS), a Chesapeake-owned oil and gas service
provider and operator of the fourth largest rig fleet in the US,
filed on Monday to raise up to $863 million. BlackStratus (BLKS),
which provides software that centralizes computer security
notifications from firewalls, anti-virus programs and other
sources, also filed on Monday to raise up to $20 million. Five
Below (ticker TBA), a pre-teen to teen-focused retailer that
offers all of its products at $5 or below, filed on Wednesday to
raise up to $150 million. Finally, Southcross Energy Partners
(SXE), which provides natural gas gathering, processing and
transportation in the southern US, filed on Friday to raise up to
$230 million.