IPOs & Other Initial Public Listings

New IPO/ Listing Action

Hit the Market Last Week — 14 new listings!

• 1 Mid-Cap IPO: KinderCare Learning ($KLC, +18% from IPO). Raised $576M. Market Cap at IPO: $2.7 billion.

• VC-backed Biotech IPOs:

  • CeriBell ($CBLL, +47% from IPO)

  • Upstream Bio ($UPB, +30% from IPO)

• Spinoff Listings:

  • South Bow ($SOBO, +4.6% from listing) — a spinoff of TC Energy’s ($TRP) liquids pipelines business.

• Reverse mergers:

  • OnKure Therapeutics ($OKUR, -8% from listing) — formed from merger with Reneo Pharmaceuticals (Fmr: RPHM)

  • Dogwood Therapeutics ($DWTX, +11% from listing) — formed from Wex Pharmaceutical’s merger with Virios Pharmaceuticals (Fmr: VIRI)

• Other Small-Cap IPOs:

  • SKK Holdings ($SKK, -30% from IPO)

  • Click Holdings ($CLIK, -60% from IPO)

  • CAMP4 Therapeutics ($CAMP, -3% from IPO)

  • Star Fashion Culture ($STFS, -19% from IPO)

• Reg A Listings

  • Sky Quarry ($SKYQ, -40% from listing)

• SPAC IPOs:

  • Launch 2 Acq. Corp ($LPBB-U, -0.2% from IPO), Cohen Circle Acq. Corp ($CCIR-U, flat from IPO), and Rising Dragon Acq. Corp ($RDAC-U, flat from IPO)

Expected this week:

• Small-Cap IPOs:

  • HUHUTECH International (HUHU)

  • Samfine Creation (SFHG)

• Other listings:

  • Triller’s (ILLR) reverse merger with AGBA Group ($AGBA) is expected to close on Monday, Oct 14, with Triller expected to trade under the new symbol ILLR on Tuesday, Oct 15. — PR

All Latest Listings // Latest IPOs // Top Performers from Listings Since 2019

New IPO Filings

• Small-Cap IPOs:

  • Vantage Corp (Ticker TBA), General Enterprise Ventures (GEVI), TEN Holdings (XHLD), Ruyizhou (RYZ)

See all of the latest IPO Filings

Listing Plans and Rumors

Plans

• Honeywell ($HON) announced it plans to spin off its advanced specialty chemicals and materials business into a separate public company by the end of 2025 or early 2026. The segment is estimated to bring in FY24 revenue of around $3.8 billion. — PR / WSJ

Rumors

• Rivus Pharmaceuticals, an obesity therapeutics biotech backed by Bain and RA Capital, is considering an IPO this year and could target a raise of more than $250M. — BB

• ID.me, a digital verification company backed by SoftBank and Google (Alphabet’s CapitalG), is preparing for an IPO that is expected to occur next year if market conditions are favorable. The company is reportedly in the process of a secondary sale, allowing employees and investors to sell shares at a $1.8 billion valuation. — BB

Postponements / Withdrawals

• Cerebras Systems (CBRS), an AI chipmaker and NVIDIA rival backed by Sequoia and Benchmark, will likely postpone its IPO due to a CFIUS national security review focusing on its investor, United Arab Emirates-based G42. The review stems from concerns that China may be using Middle Eastern companies to access American AI technology. The planned IPO is also raising red flags for some investors as G42 accounted for 87% of Cerebras’ revenue in the first half of the year and is responsible for all $1.43 billion in commitments for “systems and services” mentioned in Cerebras’ prospectus. — Reuters / CNBC

• Moove Lubricants (MOOV), a Brazilian lubricants producer owned by the Cosan Group, delayed its IPO (which was expected this week) due to market conditions. — BB

• Aluminum products maker Novelis formally withdrew its IPO registration after postponing its June IPO due to market conditions.

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

Planned/ Rumored IPOs — Major Corporate News

• Klarna’s Pre-IPO Board Fight: A Klarna board member, supported by estranged co-founder Jacobsson, claims he faces ouster for opposing a plan to grant CEO Siemiatkowski super-voting shares and a bonus that could potentially be worth $35 billion in the coming years. Chairman Mike Moritz, who also chairs Sequoia Capital, informed investors that the decision stemmed from a law firm's investigation, which found the board member had breached his duty of loyalty during Klarna's 2022 fundraising round that saw its valuation drop by 85%. — BB

• CoreWeave, an AI data center company that is rumored to IPO next year, closed a $650M credit facility led by JPMorgan, Goldman, and Morgan Stanley. This comes a week after Cisco reportedly was close to investing in the company via a secondary share sale at a $23 billion valuation. — BB

IPO Market Commentary / News

• Goldman Sachs Sees High Bar for IPOs Easing as Market Broadens — BB

• Citadel Securities CEO Says Regulation Is Deterring IPOs — BB

• The SEC approved Nasdaq's new proposal that aims to prevent companies trading under $1 from delaying their delisting through reverse stock splits. Under the rule, if a company uses a reverse split to meet the $1 minimum bid requirement that results in a violation of another listing requirement, like the minimum publicly held shares rule, it will remain non-compliant until both issues are resolved. — Cooley PubCo

• International IPO Market News:

  • Europe IPOs are staging a comeback this Fall — Reuters

  • UK Fintech Firms Push Government to Back Growth, IPO Dreams — BB

If you find this newsletter helpful, consider sharing it with a colleague or friend!

IPO Candidates

Equity Raises

Series D+

• Maven Clinic, a virtual clinic for women’s health that counts Sequoia and Oprah as investors, raised $125M in its Series F at a $1.7 billion valuation. Maven provides care for women across their reproductive life cycle. — PR / CNBC

• TrueLayer, a UK fintech company providing open banking APIs, raised $50M in its Series E extension, valuing it at $700M — a 30% haircut from its last fundraise. The former unicorn is backed by Tiger Global, Tencent, and Stripe. — BB

• Cleantech startup Form Energy, which is developing iron-air battery technology for energy storage systems, raised a $405M Series F round led by T. Rowe Price. The company is backed by Saudi Aramco, Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Investors, Temasek, and TPG. Additionally, GE Vernova ($GEV), another investor in the round, agreed to a strategic collaboration with Form in which it will support the company as it ramps up operations. — PR

• Zap Energy, a company developing low-cost nuclear fusion power plants, raised a $130M Series D led by Soros Fund Management. Existing investors also participated in the round — including Bill Gates-backed-Breakthrough Energy Investors and the venture arms of Chevron and Shell. — PR

• LegalTech startup EvenUp, an AI platform for personal injury law firms, raised a $135M Series D at over a $1 billion valuation. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures and included participation from Lightspeed and Bessemer. — PR

• Glooko, a digital health platform for diabetes management, raised a $100M Series F and announced a new CEO. The company is backed by Novo Nordisk, Medtronic, and Samsung’s venture arm; however, these investors were not mentioned as participants in the round. — PR

• Cytovale, a medical diagnostics company developing blood tests for rapid sepsis detection, raised a $100M Series D, including an investment from CPPIB. — PR

• Suki, a healthcare-focused AI speech assistant, raised a $70M Series D led by Hedosophia with participation from existing investors, including Venrock and Flare Capital. Suki, now valued at ~$500M, is also backed by Marc Benioff and Philips’ venture arm. — PR / Reuters

• Eleanor Health, an outpatient addiction treatment company, raised a $30M Series D led by General Catalyst. Eleanor is also backed by Warburg Pincus. — PR

Other Prominent Startup Rounds / Secondaries

• Kobold Metals, an AI mineral discovery and mining startup that found a high-grade copper deposit in Zambia earlier this year — which could be one of the largest copper mines in the world — disclosed in an SEC filing that it is planning to raise $527M, of which $491M has already been committed. Investors and valuation were not disclosed, though WSJ previously reported that the planned raise would target a $2 billion valuation. Previous investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Bill Gates’-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Apollo Projects (Sam Altman and bros’ venture firm). — TC

• Monzo secondary sale: Employees of British consumer fintech Monzo sold shares to a group of existing investors, including GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, at a $5.9 billion valuation. — Reuters

• Imprint, a provider of co-branded credit card programs for iconic brands, raised a $75M Series C at a $600M valuation, led by Khosla Ventures with participation from Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, and Kleiner Perkins. — PR

• TOCA Football, an operator of soccer training centers and soccer-themed entertainment venues, raised a $100M Series F from investors including Jim Kavanaugh, founder of World Wide Technology; chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen; and England National Team captain Harry Kane. — PR

• Energy X, a GM-backed direct lithium extraction startup, raised $75M from retail investors in a Reg A offering. — TC

• Farther, a tech-centric RIA with $5 billion AUM, raised a $72M Series C at a $542M valuation. The round was co-led by Google’s CapitalG. Farther is also backed by Khosla, Bessemer, and Lightspeed. — PR

Private Equity Rounds:

• Dynasty Financial Partners, a wealth management platform for financial advisors serving high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients, closed a minority capital raise from existing investor Charles Schwab and new investors BlackRock and JPMorgan. — PR

• Riser Fitness, the largest franchisee of Club Pilates studios, received a $72M growth capital commitment from Fortress Investment Group. — PR

IPO Candidates // Recent Prominent Rounds

Public M&A

Public M&A Activity

Definitive Announcements

• The Duckhorn Portfolio ($NAPA), a Napa Valley-based wine company with 11 wineries, is to be acquired by food-focused PE firm Butterfly in an all-cash deal, at $11.10 per share (105.56% premium to the prev. closing price), in a transaction that values the company at $1.95 billion. — PR

• Barnes Group Inc. ($B) announced it will be taken private by PE-giant Apollo ($APO) in an all-cash deal at $47.50 per share (4.95% premium to prev. closing price), or a total enterprise value of appx. $3.6 billion. — PR / WSJ

• Arcadium Lithium ($ALTM) will be acquired by Rio Tinto ($RIO) in an all-cash deal at $5.85 per share or a fully diluted equity value of appx. $6.7 billion. The deal represents a 38% premium to the previous closing price and a 109% premium to the closing price prior to Oct 4, the date the merger talks were reported. — PR / WSJ

Merger Closings

• Chuy’s ($CHUY) acquisition by Darden Restaurants ($DRI) for $37.50 per share, or an enterprise value of appx. $605M closed. — PR

• JT Group’s (Japan Tobacco) acquisition of Vector Group (VGR) for $15 per share closed. — PR

• Alerus Financial ($ALRS) completed its all-stock acquisition of HMN Financial (HMNF). HMNF holders received 1.25 shares of ALRS, which gives the transaction a value of $128.8M at closing. — PR

• Tellurian’s (TELL) acquisition by Woodside Energy closed with TELL shareholders receiving $1 per share or a total value of appx. $900M. — PR

Upcoming Expected Closings

• Squarespace’s ($SQSP) acquisition by Permira for $46.50 per share in cash is expected to close this week after the tender offer expired last week.

Live Deal Coverage and Updates

• Senator Elizabeth Warren called on the FTC to scrutinize Novo Nordisk’s planned acquisition of Catalent ($CTLT), stating the deal would give the company an unlawful advantage in the obesity drug market. — Reuters

• Verizon lines up $10 billion of debt financing led by Morgan Stanley to fund its acquisition of Frontier Communications ($FYBR). — BB

• To improve the regulatory prospects of its proposed acquisition of US Steel ($X), Nippon Steel has announced plans to divest its 50% stake in its joint venture steel plant in Alabama. The company will sell its stake to its JV partner ArcelorMittal ($MT) for $1 and take a $1.55 billion loss on its books. — Reuters

• As of Nov 1, Boston Scientific ($BSX) will no longer offer Coaptite, the second most widely used urethral bulking agent — which treats urinary incontinence in women due to pregnancy, menopause, and aging, among other causes. The move is believed by investors to be in response to the FTC’s antitrust review of BSX’s acquisition of Axonics ($AXNX), a maker of urinary and bowel dysfunction treatment devices — including the number 1 most used bulking agent, Bulkamid.

Potential Public M&A News

Talks / Rumors and Other Potential Deals

• GXO Logistics ($GXO), the spinoff of XPO's ($XPO) contract logistics business, is working with its financial advisors to explore a sale. — BB

• Triumph Group ($TGI), an aircraft components maker that counts Boeing as its largest customer, is exploring a sale and is working with an adviser to solicit interest from strategic buyers and PE firms. — BB

• Several PE firms, including Permira and Hellman & Friedman, are in the early stages of considering an acquisition of JFrog ($FROG), a software development tools company. JFrog stated that it wasn’t currently in talks with any PE firms. — BB

Offers

• MCB Real Estate sent a revised acquisition proposal to the Board of Whitestone REIT ($WSR) with an increased offer to $15 per share in cash. WSR previously rejected MCB’s previous offer of $14 per share offer in June. — 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 Hub covers all initial public listings (IPOs, Spinoffs, de-SPACs, and more) and delistings. The IPO Hub drills into IPOs and is the hub for our pre-IPO coverage. 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

• He just likes the stock: The Container Store ($TCS), which announced back in May that it was conducting a strategic review of alternatives for the business, has adopted a poison pill plan in response to an accumulation of stock by a shareholder that now owns over 18% of TCS. The shareholder in question, a retail investor in Florida, is not an activist — he just likes the stock. — Retail Dive / BB

• Hedge fund Alta Fox joins the group of investors, including Clearlake Capital, Irenic, and Ancora, pushing Forward Air ($FWRD) to pursue a sale in the wake of its widely panned acquisition of Omnia Logistics early this year. In a letter to the Board, Alta Fox stated it owns 3% of FWRD and called for the Board to launch an immediate formal strategic review and sales process to "reverse damage from the poor decisions that have plagued your tenure." — PR / Freightwaves

• The Pfizer ($PFE) CEO will meet this week with Starboard Value, the activist investor that has built a $1 billion stake in the company. — Reuters

• Activist investor Bradley Radoff disclosed a ~10% stake in GSE Systems ($GVP) via a 13D filing and believes that the take-private acquisition by Pelican Energy Partners significantly undervalues the company. Radoff believes that GVP is starting to materially benefit from the nuclear industry resurgence and that the company should terminate the Pelican deal. He is exploring alternative capital-raising options for GSV to pursue. — SF

Shorts and Non-Investor Activism

• Hindenburg Research published a short report targeting Roblox ($RBLX) titled ‘Roblox—Inflated Key Metrics For Wall Street And A Pedophile Hellscape For Kids’ — Hindenburg

Separations, Restructurings, and Other Special Sits

• The DOJ has issued recommendations to address Google's ($GOOG) alleged monopolistic practices with its search product. These recommendations come in response to a federal judge's ruling in August that the company holds a monopoly in the search market. The DOJ will provide a complete proposal on remedies next month and then will hold hearings with Google in April, with the rulings on the remedies expected by August. — CNBC / BB

• PE firm CD&R has fended off rival bidder PAI Partners as it is close to finalizing a deal to acquire Sanofi’s ($SNY) consumer health unit, Opella, for appx. $16.4 billion. Sanofi had previously considered spinning off Opella into a separate public company. — BB

• CVS Health ($CVS) plans to divest its core infusion services business and its 29 related regional pharmacies over the coming months as the company conducts a strategic review of its operations. — BB

Bankruptcies/ Delistings

• Gritstone bio ($GRTS), a clinical-stage vaccine developer that won a US government contract for up to $433M for a study on its COVID-19 vaccine last year, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. — PR / BB

• In Enviva’s ($EVVAQ) latest plan to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy, shareholders will be wiped out. Enviva, the largest US wood-pellet exporter, originally proposed giving existing shareholders a 5% equity stake in the restructured business. — WSJ

• Fisker ($FSRQ) received court approval for its plan to liquidate in bankruptcy. This week, American Lease, the buyer of Fisker’s remaining fleet — around 3,000 Ocean SUVs, realized that Fisker wouldn’t be able to transfer essential data and support services to the new servers. This meant that the American Lease wouldn’t be able to offer tech support to new and existing customers when the Fisker servers shut down, such as updating vehicle software, running diagnostics, and allowing drivers to remotely access their vehicles. The issue was resolved with American Lease agreeing to pay an additional $2.5M over 5 years for tech support services. — Reuters

• Airspan Network’s (MIMOQ) existing shares were canceled worthless as its bankruptcy plan became effective.

• Others downlisted to OTC:

  • Generations Bancorp NY ($GBNY), Renalytix (RNLX —> $RNLXY), Vertex Energy (VTNR —> $VTNRQ), Trevena ($TRVN), Forza X1 ($FRZA), Guardion Health Sciences ($GHSI)

Delistings & Downlistings (Listings 2020- )

Thanks for reading,

The team at ListingTrack

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.