2010 Year-End U.S. IPO Review and 2011 Outlook

Renaissance Capital IPO Research submits: The Chinese Dragon roared in 2010, blowing the US off its historic position as the world’s leader in IPOs. Record numbers of Chinese IPOs listed in Hong Kong and the US, producing two of the five largest IPOs of all time. Due in part to the surge in Chinese activity, the global IPO market nearly matched the previous peak of 2007.

Renaissance Capital IPO Research submits: Global market turbulence and rotten economic news put the IPO market to the test in the second quarter. Most investors would expect the global IPO market to have been impacted by the sell-off in global equity indexes. However, the IPO clearing mechanism continued to function, allowing underwriters to churn out new issues at a respectable pace.

Renaissance Capital IPO Research submits: General Motors and LPL Investment Holdings represented the 127th and 128th IPOs to price so far in this year, which is more than double the 63 IPOs that were completed for all of 2009. The U.S. IPO market has raised $17.9 billion so far in the month of November, more than doubling the $17 billion raised in the first ten months of 2010 combined.

Yesterday’s release of detailed information regarding with whom AIG settled in full on credit default swaps (CDS) at the end of 2008 was helpful.  We learned a great deal about the precise nature of transactions and the exact composition of counterparties involved.

By Trent Tillman:C&J Energy Services, Inc. (CJES) priced its 11.5 million share IPO at $29.00, above the indicated range of $25-$28. Of the shares offered Friday, 4.75 million are primary or company shares, while the remaining 6.75 million are secondary shares being offered by selling shareholders.

By Trent Tillman:Francesca’s Holding Corp. (FRAN), aka Francesca’s Collections, priced its IPO of 10 million shares at $17.00, above the indicated range of $14.00-16.00.

Trent Tillman submits:Fusion-io, Inc. (FIO) priced their 12.3 million share IPO above the revised range at $19.00. The original range was $13-15 and on Tuesday the company revised the range to $16-18. Of the shares offered the company is selling 10.76M shares and selling stockholders are offering $1.54M shares.

Trent Tillman submits:HCA Holding, Inc. (NYSE: HCA) priced its much anticipated IPO of 126.2 million shares at $30 per share (original terms were for 124M shares @ $27-30). The $3.876B raised in this offering makes HCA the largest private equity backed IPO in U.S. history. The $30 price equates to a $15.46B market capitalization for the company, and thus a $41.46B enterprise value when adding in debt.