25 initial public offerings have been priced so far this year as of Feb 3, 2006:
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18 IPOs are currently trading above initial offering price;
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6 are trading below the offering price;
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1 is trading at its offer price.
A total of
sixteen IPOs were priced during the week of January 30rd, 2006. There are
9 deals scheduled to be priced during the coming week, hoping to raise nearly $2 billion.
IPO PERFORMANCE
ADVANCERS:
The initial public offering of investment bank
Thomas Weisel Partners Group Inc. (
TWPG: chart) priced 6 million shares at $15 per share on Wednesday, at the top of an expected price range of $13 - $15 a share. The offer included a million more shares than originally planned and was worth $90 million.
Shares of the investment bank gained 33% in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday.
The company sold 4.8 million shares, with shareholders including the California Public Employees' Retirement System offering the rest.
Thomas Weisel is serving as a lead underwriter on its offering, together with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Fox-Pitt, Kelton.
The San Francisco-based company was founded in 1998 by Thomas Weisel, who previously served as the chairman and chief executive of Montgomery Securities.
Weisel had reported a net loss before preferred dividends of $14.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, compared with a $9.2 million profit a year ago. Revenues were down 15.1% to $180.8 million.
Weisel''s gains topped the average first-day advance of 11.5% for 2005 IPOs worth $50 million or more, according to Dealogic.
Weisel's debut stock performance follows the IPOs of investment banks
Greenhill & Co. Inc. (
GHL: chart) in May 2004 and
Lazard Ltd. (
LAZ: chart) in May 2005. Lazard shares have gained almost 40% since their debut, while Greenhill''s stock now trades at more than three times its offer price.
The stock closed at $19.20 on Friday, or up 27% from the offering price.
Koppers Holdings Inc. (
KOP: chart) priced its initial public offering of 10 million shares of common stock at $14 per share. The pricing came at the low end of the company’s forecast of $14 - $16 per share.
Of the shares offered, 8.7 million are being offered by the company and 1.3 million are being offered by selling shareholders.
In addition, the shareholders have granted to the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.5 million additional shares of common stock to cover over-allotments.
The Pittsburgh-based company was up 4.3% in their market debut also on Wednesday. The shares gained about 60 cents to $14.60 in opening trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The deal was worth $140 million.
The lead underwriters were Credit Suisse Group and UBS Investment Bank with First Analysis Securities, Jefferies and KeyBanc Capital, acting as co-managers for the offering.
Koppers Holdings is a global integrated producer of carbon compounds and treated wood products. Including its joint ventures, Koppers operates 36 facilities in the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, Australia, China, the Pacific Rim and South Africa.
The company’s shares ended the week at $16.95, or up 69% from the offering price. 
