IPOs & Other Initial Public Listings

New IPO/ Listing Action

Hit the Market Last Week (14)

• Mid-Cap IPOs:

  • Ingram Micro ($INGM, +10% from IPO)

  • WeRide ($WRD, +7% from IPO)

• Small-Cap IPOs:

  • Septerna ($SEPN, +19% from IPO)

  • HUHUTECH International ($HUHU, +3% from IPO)

  • Founder Group ($FGL, -15% from IPO)

  • High Roller Technologies ($ROLR, -3% from IPO)

  • SAG Holdings ($SAG, -25% from IPO)

  • Li Bang International ($LBGJ, -5% from IPO)

• Uplistings:

  • Synergy CHC ($SNYR, -7% from uplist)

• SPAC IPOs:

  • Aldel Financial II Acq Corp ($ALDF-U, -0.1% from IPO)

  • Charlton Aria Acq Corp ($CHAR-U, -0.4% from IPO)

  • Bold Eagle Acq Corp ($BEAG-U, flat from IPO)

  • Oaktree III Life Sciences ($OACC-U, flat from IPO)

• Other listings:

  • Nebius Group ($NBIS, +3% from trading resumption), formerly Yandex, resumed trading on Nasdaq today, Oct 21.

Expected this week

• Spinoffs:

  • Everus Construction Group (ECG) — a spinoff of MDU Resources Group’s ($MDU) construction services business.

• Small-Cap IPOs:

  • Peak Resources LP (PRB)

• De-SPAC Listings:

  • DevvStream (OTC: $DEVS) is expected to close its SPAC merger with Focus Impact Acq Corp ($FIAC) and begin trading on Nasdaq.

_{All Latest Listings // Latest IPOs // Top Performers from Listings Since 2019}

Listing Plans and Rumors

New Plans/ Plan Updates

• Genesys, a customer experience software company backed by Salesforce, Zoom, and BlackRock, confidentially filed for an IPO. — PR / Reuters

• Magnera (MAGN): Berry Global ($BERY) announced that Magnera, the company that will be formed from the reverse merger of Glatfelter ($GLT) and Berry’s global nonwovens and hygiene films business, is expected to begin trading on NYSE on Nov 5. The merger was approved by GLT holders, and the spinoff and merger are both expected to close on Nov 4. — PR

• OLB Group ($OLB) filed an S-1 to spin off its Tennessee Bitcoin mining facility subsidiary, DMint, as a separate public company. — PR

• Crypto stablecoin company Circle is still committed to the IPO path. The company filed its confidential IPO registration back in January. — BB

• Kneron, a Taiwanese-American AI chip startup, signed a non-binding LOI to go public via a SPAC merger with Spark I Acq Corp ($SPKL). The company is in talks to raise $300M in a round that could value the firm at $1 billion. — BB

• SPAC Deals

  • Capital A International, a subsidiary of Air Asia parent Capital A, terminated its plan to list on Nasdaq via SPAC merger with Aetherium Acq Corp ($GMFI)

  • Investcorp AI Acq Corp ($IVCA) announced a merger with Australian sales software development group Bigtincan Limited at a $275M pre-money equity valuation. — PR

  • Flag Ship Acq Corp ($FSHP) announced it will merge with Chinese firm Great Rich Technologies (GRT), a South Korean-listed maker of optoelectronic products for consumer electronics. — PR

  • DT Cloud Acq Corp ($DYCQ) will merge with a biopharma company focusing on small-molecule chemical drugs, Maius Pharmaceutical, at a $250M equity value. — PR

See the list of Planned IPOs and Rumored IPOs // See the SPAC Hub for all our SPAC coverage

IPO and Other Market Commentary

• BMO Predicts as Much as $50 Billion in US IPOs Next Year — BB

• The NYSE is adding another 6 hours to the extended hours trading on NYSE Arca, for a total of 22 hours per weekday. The new pre-market trading session will be from 1:30 am to 9:30 am EST (extended from the current 4:00 am to 9:30 am), and the after-hours session will be from 4:00 pm to 11:30 pm EST (extended from the current 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm). — BB

• Chinese EV and self-driving tech companies turn to IPOs for cash — FT

IPO Candidates

Equity Raises

Prominent Startups, Series D+, and Private Equity Rounds:

• Waymo raised $5.6 billion in its largest funding round, which was led by its parent company, Alphabet (Google), and included investments from Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, Fidelity, Silver Lake, and T. Rowe Price. — BB / PR

• Zelis: Mubadala is nearing a deal to acquire a minority stake in Zelis, a healthcare tech company owned by Bain Capital and Parthenon Capital, in a deal that values the firm at ~$17 billion. — BB

• Zip, a procurement SaaS company backed by YC and Tiger Global, raised a $190M Series D at a $2.2 billion valuation. — PR

• Eruditus Executive Education, a Singaporean executive education and EdTech company, raised a $150M Series F led by TPG, including investments from existing investors SoftBank, Accel, CPP, and the Chan Zuckerberg initiative. — PR

• Outrider, a company building autonomous solutions for yard operations at logistics hubs, raised a $62M Series D led by Koch Disruptive Technologies and New Enterprise Associates, with additional investments from 8VC, ARK Invest, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture arm), and Prologis Ventures. — PR

• Carbon Robotics, a farming robotics startup, raised a $70M Series D, including an investment from existing investor NVentures, NVIDIA’s venture arm. — PR

• Treeline Biosciences, an oncology biotech backed by Google, KKR, and OrbiMed, raised $422M as disclosed in an SEC filing. — SF

• Globality, an AI procurement software firm backed by SoftBank, San Disk, and Sheryl Sandberg, raised a $47M Series D-1. — PR

• Redaptive, an Energy-as-a-Service provider backed by Engie and Honeywell, raised $100M from CPP Investments. — PR

• Vinted, a Lithuanian second-hand fashion marketplace backed by Accel, EQT, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, hit a $5.4 billion valuation in a secondary sale worth $367M. New investors include TPG and Hedosophia. — TechCrunch

• Interos, an AI risk intelligence company backed by Kleiner Perkins and ServiceNow, raised $40M from Blue Owl Capital. — PR

See our list of IPO Candidates and the most recent prominent rounds here.

Public M&A

Public M&A Activity

Definitive Announcements (Live definitive deals in blue highlight)

• Sandy Spring Bancorp ($SASR) + Atlantic Union Bankshares ($AUB): Sandy Spring Bancorp, a Maryland-based community bank, will be acquired by Atlantic Union, a Virginia-headquartered regional banking company. — PR

  • Terms: All-stock deal with SASR holders to receive 0.9 AUB shares per SASR share, implying an equity consideration of appx. $1.58 billion at the time of the announcement. SASR and AUB holders will own 47% and 53% of the combined company, respectively.

• Secureworks ($SCWX) + Sophos: Secureworks, a cybersecurity firm that is majority owned by Dell, will be acquired by Thoma Bravo-backed Sophos, a UK-based cybersecurity company. — PR / Reuters

  • Terms: All-cash deal, at $8.50 per share (0.35% premium to the closing price prior to announcement) or a total equity value of appx. $755M.

• Lumos Pharma ($LUMO) + Double Point Ventures: Lumos, a biopharma company developing treatments for rare diseases, will be acquired by Double Point. — PR

  • Terms: All-cash deal, at $4.25 per share (7.59% premium to the closing price prior to announcement) plus 1 CVR per share payable upon achievement of certain milestones. Total equity value of appx. $38M.

• BM Technologies ($BMTX) + First Carolina Bank: BM Technologies, a digital banking platform, announced it will be acquired by First Carolina. — PR

  • Terms: All-cash deal, at $5.00 per share (55.28% premium to the closing price prior to announcement) or a total equity value of appx. $67M.

Merger Closings

• Sharecare (SHCR): Altaris closed its acquisition of Sharecare for $1.43 per share in cash. — PR

• PetIQ (PETQ): Bansk Group closed its $1.5 billion acquisition of PetIQ, with PETQ holders receiving $31 per share in cash. — PR

Upcoming Expected Closings

• GRIID Infrastructure ($GRDI) + CleanSpark ($CLSK): CleanSpark’s acquisition of GRIID is expected to close on Oct 30.

Live Deal Coverage and Updates

• Capri Holdings Limited ($CPRI) + Tapestry, Inc. ($TPR): On Thursday, Tapestry’s acquisition of Capri was blocked by regulators, effectively resulting in the permanent halting of a deal that would have seen the following brands combined under one company: Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman (Tapestry) and Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Michael Kors (Capri). The FTC’s Bureau of Competition head commented that the “decision is a victory not only for the FTC, but also for consumers across the country seeking access to quality handbags at affordable prices.” Following the decision, TPR’s stock tanked by 46%. — CNBC / PR

  • What now? The companies intend to appeal the decision, though an appeal would result in another lengthy review that would push the merger agreement past its Feb outside date. The merger agreement stipulates that the acquisition target Tapestry is to pay Capri between $30M and $50M if the deal is terminated due to failure to secure regulatory approval.

• Amedisys ($AMED) + UnitedHealth Group ($UNH): Representatives from both companies are expected to meet with DOJ antitrust officials for a “last rites” meeting — a final chance to persuade the regulators to not challenge UnitedHealth’s acquisition of the home healthcare services and hospice company. — BB

• GSE Systems ($GVP) + Pelican Energy Partners: Pelican increased the acquisition price from $4.10 to $4.60 per share. — SF

• Catalent ($CTLT) + Novo Nordisk: The CEO of Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche voiced his opposition to Novo’s acquisition of CDMO Catalent arguing that pharmaceutical companies buying contract manufacturers would limit competition. — Reuters

• Frontier Communications ($FYBR) + Verizon:

  • Ares Management, the largest FYBR investor owning ~16%, hired Houlihan Lokey to evaluate Verizon’s acquisition offer. — BB

  • Glendon Capital Management, the 2nd largest FYBR investor owning nearly 10%, which was reported to be opposed to the deal last week, sent a letter to Frontier’s board this week saying the $20 billion deal price undervalues the company by 30% and is urging the board to delay the Nov 13 shareholder vote. — PR / WSJ

• Discover ($DFS) + Capital One ($COF): The New York Attorney General has launched an investigation into Capital One’s acquisition of Discover that would create the largest credit card issuer (ahead of the current leader Chase). Additionally, the combined company would have a 30% market share in the subprime consumer credit card segment — double its closest competitor. The DOJ has already been reviewing the deal and the NY AG has requested Discover and Capital waive confidentiality protections so the DOJ can share information with her office. — BB

• Endeavor Group ($EDR) + Silver Lake: Endeavor sold its IMG, Professional Bull Riders, and On Location units to TKO Group ($TKO) — the company it formed last year through a merger of UFC (a wholly owned Endeavor subsidiary at the time) and WWE. Pursuant to Silver Lake’s agreement to take Endeavor private, the company is also exploring the potential sale of the event assets within its IMG portfolio, including the Miami Open and Madrid Open. — CNBC / PR

Potential M&A News

Talks / Rumors and Other Potential Deals

• Spirit Airlines ($SAVE) + Frontier Airlines ($ULCC): Frontier and Spirit have entered into merger talks, with Frontier potentially acquiring Spirit as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. This comes after Spirit’s merger attempt with JetBlue ($JBLU) was abandoned due to regulatory challenges earlier this year. The early stage talks have involved discussions on terms that Spirit’s debt holders would agree to. — WSJ / BB

• Altair Engineering ($ALTR) + Siemens: Altair, a ~$9 billion market cap engineering software company, was reported on Tuesday to be exploring a sale after receiving acquisition interest. On Wednesday, it was reported that Siemens is in advanced talks to acquire Altair. — BB / Reuters

• Bausch + Lomb ($BLCO): Banks and private credit firms are competing to provide at least $5 billion of debt financing to help fund a potential buyout of Bausch + Lomb that could value the company at $10 billion including debt. Last week, it was reported that PE firms TPG and Blackstone have teamed up to work on a joint bid to acquire the for eyecare company from its parent, Bausch Health. — BB

• Element Solutions ($ESI), a specialty chemicals producer with a $6.5 billion market cap, is exploring a sale and has hired BofA and Goldman to gauge interest from potential suitors. — BB

• Integral Ad Science ($IAS), a ~$2 billion market cap digital advertising technology company, is exploring a sale after receiving acquisition interest and is working with Jefferies to gauge interest from suitors. Vista Equity is the top shareholder, with a 40% stake. — BB

• Seadrill ($SDRL) + Transocean ($RIG): Offshore drilling firm Transocean — the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig at the center of the 2010 BP oil spill — is in talks to merge with its rival Seadrill. — BB

• Summit Materials ($SUM) + Quikrete: Quikrete has approached building materials maker Summit Materials with a non-binding acquisition offer that is said to be in the “low $50s”. SUM closed Wednesday’s session (the session prior to the report) at $40.62 and closed Friday’s session at $45.10. — BB / PR

Offers

• Territorial Bancorp ($TBNK) + Hope Bancorp ($HOPE): Blue Hill Advisors issued an addendum to its acquisition proposal sent to TBNK’s board, including disclosures about the investors behind the offer. Blue Hill urged TBNK to engage in what they deem as a superior proposal to the current HOPE deal. — PR

Quick break to introduce ListingTrack.io!

ListingTrack.io is a follow-up to our former site, SPAC Track. ListingTrack features a radically improved user experience and access to a significantly broader dataset covering public listing events, including IPOs, SPACs, Spinoffs, and pre-IPO companies. There is also much more coverage in the pipeline, including Public M&A.

Here's a quick rundown of the site's coverage: Our Listing/IPO Hub covers all initial public listings (IPOs, Spinoffs, de-SPACs, and more) and delistings. The SPAC Hub is the new and improved home for SPAC Track’s SPAC and De-SPAC data.

Activism, Shorts, & Other Special Situations

Activism, Investor Disputes & Shorts

Activist Investors/ Disputes

• Cheesecake Factory ($CAKE): Activist JCP Investment Management has built a ~2% stake in Cheesecake Factory and is urging the restaurant operator to spin off three of its smaller brands into a separate public company. — WSJ

• Kenvue ($KVUE): The activist investor targeting Kenvue, Starboard Value, attributed the stock’s underperformance to the company’s skin health and beauty segment. — Reuters

• Wolfspeed ($WOLF): Activist Jana Partners says chipmaker Wolfspeed could unlock value for shareholders by separating its devices unit and by monetizing its silicon carbide business. Back in April, Jana announced it had built a significant stake in Wolfspeed and, at the time, urged the company to pursue a sale. — BB

• Five9 ($FIVN): Legion Partners has taken a stake in Five9 and is pushing for a board seat and cost-cutting measures. Another investor, Anson, launched its activist campaign in July, urging Five9 to pursue a sale. The company reportedly rebuffed an acquisition offer from Zoom last year. — Reuters

• Algoma Steel ($ASTL): Maple Rock Capital, with a ~6% stake in Algoma, filed a 13D stating it is seeking to increase the size of ASTL’s board and to designate a representative to the board. — SF

• Southwest Airlines ($LUV): Southwest has reached an agreement with activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which holds an 11% stake in the company, to address its demands. Elliott consented to a standstill after Southwest agreed to add six of Elliott's designated candidates to its board, accelerate the current Executive Chairman's retirement, and appoint a new independent chairman. — BB

• Pfizer ($PFE): Starboard accuses Pfizer management of $20 billion value destruction. — FT

Shorts and Non-Investor Activism

• Lilium ($LILM): New short report from Iceberg Research titled: ‘Should Taxpayers Save Lilium from Bankruptcy? No, it’s a fraud.’ — Iceberg

• Hershey ($HSY): Grizzly Research published a short report titled ‘High Levels of Banned PFAS Detected in Hershey’s Packaging. Independent Tests Reveal Widespread Presence of Cancer-Linked “Forever Chemicals” in its Biggest Brands’ — Grizzly

Separations, Restructurings, and Other Special Sits

• Boeing ($BA) is exploring the sale of its Space business, which includes the beleaguered Starliner. Boeing’s new CEO, who took the helm in August, indicated that any non-core businesses beyond the commercial and defense units are candidates for divestiture. Boeing is expected to retain its commercial and military satellite businesses and its role overseeing the Space Launch System. — WSJ

• PLBY Group ($PLBY): Hugh Hefner’s Son Offers to Buy Playboy Brand from PLBY Group for $100M. The company rejected Cooper Hefner’s offer, stating that the offer substantially undervalued its Playboy assets. — WSJ / PR

• Solventum ($SOLV) is in the early stages of exploring the sale of its purification and filtration business. The separation would allow the company to focus on its healthcare units, which includes its wound and oral care business, healthcare technology business, and biopharma filtration businesses. Solventum itself was spun out of 3M ($MMM) earlier this year. — WSJ

• Unilever ($UL) announced it is on track to separate its Ice Cream unit, which includes the brands Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, and Cornetto (Wall’s), at the end of 2025. — PR

Bankruptcies/ Delistings

• Lilium ($LILM): Lilium has been unable to secure funding and is expected to file for insolvency in Germany for two of its German subsidiaries following the German government's refusal to approve a €50 million loan guarantee. The parent company is considering insolvency as well. — SF

• Tupperware ($TUBBQ): After filing for Chapter 11 in September, Tupperware Brands reached a deal to sell its brand name and some of its core assets to its lenders for $23.5M in cash, in addition to the $64M in secured claims the lenders own. The remaining assets will be dealt with through the bankruptcy process. — WSJ

• Others downlisted to OTC:

  • Gritstone Bio (GRTS —> $GRTSQ), Zapata ($ZPTA), Notable Labs (NTBL —> $NTBLQ)

Click here to view the Delisted & Downlisted companies that launched their initial public listings in 2020.

Thanks for reading,

The team at ListingTrack

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Market Data and Coverage: All market data presented is based on the stock prices at the close of the previous trading day. We cover the US market only at this time.
Abbreviations: PR: Press Release, SF: Company SEC filing, IP: Investor Presentation, BB: Bloomberg.

DISCLAIMER: The information provided in this newsletter is for your convenience only and is not intended to be treated as financial, investment, tax, or other advice. ListingTrack and its parent, CommonFi, do not make any guarantees, representations, or warranties as to, and shall have no liability for, the timeliness, truthfulness, sequence, quality, completeness, or accuracy of any of the information or data provided in this newsletter or on the ListingTrack website.