By John Filar Atwood
The IPO market went without a completed deal last week for the first time since the start of April. While deals have slowed dramatically after a blistering end of June and beginning of July, the tables appear set to turn back around. Eleven potential IPOs are on the calendar for this week.
New registrants. While no offerings were getting completed, plenty of new registrants added their names to the IPO waiting list last week. The week’s activity included seven new filings, including three by pharmaceutical preparations companies. CURE Pharmaceutical Holding registered without naming any underwriters for the proposed offering. The company offers oral dissolving film and transdermal drug delivery systems. Vaccinex also registered, hoping to raise capital to fund its development of products to treat cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and autoimmune disorders. New registrant Urovant Sciences, which is headquartered in London, develops treatments for urologic conditions. JPMorgan, which is the lead manager for Urovant, also was selected as lead underwriter by China’s CNFinance Holding. The company provides financing solutions to micro- and small-enterprise owners in China. Six Chinese companies have filed new registrations in the U.S. since the start of June. MESA AIR GROUP, the operator of U.S. regional air carrier Mesa Airlines, is planning a $150 million IPO. Mesa operates flights as American Eagle and United Express through agreements with American and United Airlines. Its key investors include American Airlines, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo. ToughBuilt Industries, a maker of home improvement and construction products for the do-it-yourself market, also registered. The California company hopes to raise $18 million through an offering of common shares and warrants. ToughBuilt collaborator Belegal Industries provides engineering services and quality control support for ToughBuilt’s operations in China. Last week’s other new registrant was Texas-based energy company Remora Royalties. The company owns mineral and royalty interests in oil and gas properties across 12 states. Remora will continue to be controlled by current shareholders, including Remora Petroleum, after the IPO.
Withdrawals. November 2016 registrant Frankly decided not to pursue an IPO right now, and was the only company to file a Form RW last week. The media software developer had amended its filing ten times, but not since July 2017.
The information reported here is gathered using IPO Vital Signs, a Wolters Kluwer Regulatory U.S. database that includes all SEC registered IPOs, including REITs and those non-U.S. IPO filers seeking to list in the U.S. markets. IPO Vital Signs does not track closed-end funds, best efforts or non-underwritten deals, or IPO offerings for amounts less than $5 million.