Australia’s IPO Listing Is Complete Opposite From One Year Ago

Posted on by admin
Australian IPOs

Brokerdealer.com blog update profiles the low number of IPOs Australia has produced. After a record setting year in 2014, Australia’s list of IPOs has dropped dramatically. An article from DNA India’s titled “After record IPO year, Australian listings shrink to almost nothing“, highlights several possibilities as to why the drop in IPOs could be. An excerpt from the article is below.

Australian IPOs have virtually dried up after a record year, taking their cue from a subdued stock market as investors fret about the country’s commodities bust and China’s weakening economy.

After an unprecedented $15 billion of initial public offerings last year, companies raised $327 million in January-to-March, Thomson Reuters data shows. That’s down 96% from a year earlier and a fraction of the $7.5 billion
in the previous quarter. The drop-off reflects the skittish mood in Australian equities. While the market bounced 7% in January following a weak 2014 finish, it has since failed to make headway as investors shrug off record low
interest rates and watch the all-important iron ore price sink.

The average size of an IPO in the March quarter was $30 million, down from $270 million in the December quarter and $100 million a year earlier. Last year, many private equity firms offloaded assets they had held since the aftermath of the global financial crisis. This year has been marked by just one big listing and a spate of tiny IPOs by small companies. “We’ve had a very long bull market since the bottom in ’08, and we find it hard to find value,” said Geoff Wilson, chairman of Wilson Asset Management, which bought shares in Monday’s market debutant MYOB.

To continue reading about the fall in Australian IPOs, click here.

McGraw-Hill Education IPO Could Be Here Just In Time For Back To School

Posted on by admin
McGraw_hill-1024x615

The school year may be winding down but investors are already looking forward to the back to school season for a likely launch of textbook company, McGraw-Hill Education’s initial public offering. Brokerdealer.com blog update profiles one of the largest educational publishers in the world, McGraw-Hill Education, and the rumors surrounding around the likelihood that they will be launching an IPO just in time for the new school year. This brokerdealer.com blog update is courtesy of Fortune and their article, “McGraw-Hill Education said to be preparing for IPO“, with an excerpt below.  

McGraw-Hill Education is planning an initial public offering (IPO) as early as the fourth quarter of this year, potentially valuing the textbook company at around $5 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company’s owner, private equity firm Apollo Global Management, has held talks with investment banks about the IPO, though their underwriter roles will not be finalized before the summer, four people said this week.

McGraw-Hill Education would aim to go public near the end of the year, following the back-to-school season when it generates the bulk of its revenue through textbook sales, the people added.

A spokesman for McGraw-Hill Education did not immediately respond to a request for a comment, while a spokesman for Apollo declined to comment.

New York-based company McGraw-Hill Education is one of the largest educational publishers in the world, selling textbooks for school and university students and professionals in about 60 languages. It competes withPearson Plcand Cengage Learning Inc, and, like its peers, has sought to make most of its offerings available on the Internet as more people read books on tablets and phones.

To continue reading about McGraw-Hill Education’s IPO, click here.

 

Safeway Could Go Public With IPO Just Months After Going Private

Posted on by admin
safeway_store-304

Brokerdealer.com blog update profiles rumors surrounding grocery store chain, Safeway, and the possibility of the chain going public just months after being purchased by AB Acquisition. AB Acquisition took Safeway private and merged it with merged it with Boise, Idaho’s grocery store chain, Albertsons, which AB Acquisition purchased in 2006. The company has been rumored to hire investment bankers to plan an IPO, the company’s spokesman said that the company does not”comment on rumors.” This brokerdealer.com blog update is courtesy of the San Fransico Chronicle’s Kathleen Pender and her article “Just taken private, Safeway may go public again this year: report” with an excerpt below. 

Talk about quick flips: The company that took Safeway private just three months ago is already planning to take it public again this year, according to a CNBC report quoting unidentified sources. If true, it would be Safeway’s third initial public offering.

The report said that AB Acquisition, the holding company that operates Safeway and Albertsons, has hired investment bankers to plan an IPO.

In a deal that closed Jan. 30, an investor group led by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management bought the Pleasanton grocery chain and merged it with Boise, Idaho’s Albertsons, which it had purchased in 2006.

Private equity firms typically buy public companies and restructure them, which often involves selling or closing underperforming divisions, then resell them to another company or have a fresh IPO. The process typically takes years, not months.

An IPO would almost certainly include both Safeway and Albertsons, which operate as a combined company even though their grocery stores maintain separate names. Cerberus has made many changes at Albertsons including closing and selling many stores and selling off the underlying real estate. It hasn’t had time to do much at Safeway, other than laying off headquarters employees.

To continue reading about the possibility of a Safeway IPO, click here.

 

Laureate Education Inc. Planning $1 Billion IPO

Posted on by admin
about_laureate_690

Brokerdealer.com blog update profiles Laureate Education Inc., the world’s largest for-profit college chain, is planning to launch a $1 billion initial public offering in the United States. Laureate Education was founded in 1998 by Douglas L. Becker as part of Sylvan Learning Systems. In 2007, an investment group lead by Becker bought the Laureate Education section of the company. The company now owns and operates more than 80 institutions, both campus-based and online, in 30 countries, with more than 800,000 students enrolled. 

This blog update profiling Laureate Education’s plans for an IPO is courtesy of BloombergBusiness‘s article, “World’s Biggest For-Profit College Chain Plans $1 Billion IPO”, with an excerpt below:

Laureate Education Inc., the largest for-profit college network in the world, is interviewing banks for a $1 billion initial public offering in the U.S., people with knowledge of the matter said.

The company, whose honorary chancellor is former President Bill Clinton, has been meeting with potential underwriters for an IPO that could value the education juggernaut at about $5 billion, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private information. The company, based in Baltimore, owns 84 universities, mostly in emerging markets.

Laureate was taken private in a management-led $3.8 billion buyout in 2007, backed by an investor group including KKR & Co. and Citigroup Inc. The company pursued an IPO three years ago, people familiar with the situation said then, which never materialized. It would be the the biggest school chain to go public, edging out Nord Anglia Education Inc., the second-biggest, which raised $350 million last year.

The market climate surrounding for-profit education could be better. The For-Profit Education Index of 13 companies, including DeVry Education Group Inc. and Apollo Education Group Inc., has plunged 55 percent through Wednesday since its peak five years ago. Enrollment has slowed amid recruiting abuses and student debt concerns, leading to a regulatory crackdown.

To continue reading this article on the world’s largest for-profit college chain’s quest for an IPO, click here. To find a brokerdealer to help you get in on this IPO and others like it, click here.

Adultery Website Wants Hook Up With Brokerdealers In An IPO

Posted on by admin
Adultery website AshleyMadison attempts for a second IPO

Brokerdealer.com blog update profiles website AshleyMadison, an adultery website seeking to an IPO for the second time. The company has been experiencing a boom in business and wants the funds for marketing and international expansion. This brokerdealer blog update is courtesy of Bloomberg Business’s article, “Adultery Website AshleyMadison Seeks IPO as Demand Booms” with an excerpt below.

AshleyMadison.com, a dating website for cheating spouses, wants to hook up with investors by pursuing an initial public offering in London this year.

The site’s parent company, which failed with a previous IPO attempt in Canada, said on Wednesday it is looking to raise as much as $200 million to exploit booming demand for its services.

AshleyMadison had sales of $115 million last year, an almost fourfold increase on 2009, Christoph Kraemer, its head of international relations said in an interview. It makes money by charging men for credits, which they then use for introductions to women.

Avid Life Media Inc., the Toronto-based holding company that runs AshleyMadison.com along with peers Cougarlife.com and EstablishedMen.com, wants the new funds for marketing and international expansion.

AshleyMadison has 36 million members in 46 countries, Kraemer said, and claims to be the world’s second-largest paid-for Internet dating website, behind Match.com.

While the U.S. accounts for about 50 percent of its business, Kraemer said “Europe is the only region where we have a real chance of doing an IPO” because of its more liberal attitude toward adultery.

“We’re no longer a niche, but it’s been difficult in North America to find the support to go public,” he added.

To continue reading about the success of this adultery website and its second attempt at an IPO, click here.