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US IPO Pipeline Update: Markit and eight more join the June IPO calendar

June 4, 2014

The financial data titan Markit and eight more companies set terms over the past week for initial public offerings, ushering in what will likely be a busy June in the IPO market. As measured by the Renaissance IPO ETF (symbol: IPO), aftermarket performance picked up at the end of May while initial filings outpaced actual IPOs, creating a backlog in the IPO pipeline. The IPO calendar now has 16 companies set to raise $3.6 billion, with Arista Networks (ANET), Radius Health (RDUS) and WL Ross Holding (WLRHU) to begin trading later this week.

Markit's $1.1 billion IPO on June 18 could be the year's 5th largest, behind Ally Financial (ALLY), Santander Consumer USA (SC), JD.com (JD) and IMS Health (IMS). Like Ally, Markit's IPO float will be entirely composed of existing stock from selling shareholders, which include major banks like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank (all three are also among its IPO underwriters). The company's widely-used bond valuation platform and derivatives trade processing services generated $447 million in LTM adjusted EBITDA (46% margin).

The six IPOs that launched on Monday are on the calendar for next week and include two large energy companies, two companies that support energy production infrastructure, a global plastics maker and a Chinese career portal. Memorial Resource Development (MRD), is an oil and gas E&P focused in northern Louisiana and controlled by private equity firm Natural Gas Partners. Abengoa Yield (ABY), preparing to raise $601 million, will provide dividends by operating Spanish energy company Abengoa's (NASDAQ: ABGB) long-term contracts for renewable energy, conventional power and electricity transmission assets.

Trinseo (TSE) was part of Dow Chemical until Bain Capital LBO'd the company in 2010 for $1.6 billion. Now expecting to raise $180 million, the specialty polymers and plastics manufacturer originally filed a $400 million IPO in 2011 but withdrew in 2013. Fidelity-backed Aspen Aerogels (ASPN) also filed for an IPO in 2011 ($115 million) and withdrew in 2013, and expects to raise $100 million next week. It manufactures high-performance insulation for energy infrastructure facilities. Nordic American Offshore (NAO), a spinoff of Nordic American Tankers (NYSE: NAT), operates platform supply vessels for offshore drilling rigs. Zhaopin (ZPIN) is the week's only tech deal to launch. It operates China's largest online career portal and follows the success of recent Chinese internet tech IPOs, including JD.com, Jumei (JMEI), Weibo (WB) and Cheetah Movile (CMCM). 

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IPO terms filings (May 29, 2014 to June 3, 2014)
Company (Ticker)                                         Business                                                                                               Deal Size ($mm) LTM Sales ($mm)
Markit (MRKT) Bond data and trade processing $1,097 $980
Memorial Resource Development (MRD) Oil and gas E&P backed by Natural Gas Partners $612 $267
Abengoa Yield (ABY) Spinoff owning renewable and other power assets
$601 $242
Trinseo (TSE) Bain-backed specialty plastics manufacturer $180 $5,275
Nordic American Offshore (NAO)
Offshore drilling rig resupply vessels $100 $1
Aspen Aerogels (ASPN) High-performance insulation for energy facilities $100 $91
Zhaopin (ZPIN) China's most popular career website $76 $154
Radius Health (RDUS) Biotech: restore bone density for osteoporosis $52 $0
MOKO Social Media (MOKO) Custom mobile social media platforms $10 $6

Three companies submitted initial filings during the past week. Civitas Solutions operates non-institutional care services for a range of individuals with special needs. Controlled by Vestar, Civitas calls to mind another Vestar-backed care network with relatively high debt - 21st Century Oncology Holdings (ICC), which withdrew its IPO in May. Spark Energy (SPKE) is a natural gas and electricity retailer primarily operating in Illinois, California and Texas. CareDx (CDNA), which makes diagnostic tests for monitoring heart transplant patients, originally filed for an $86 million IPO in 2007 under the name xDX but withdrew in 2008.


IPO initial filings (May 29, 2014 to June 3, 2014)
Company (Ticker)                                 Business                                                                              Deal Size ($mm) LTM Sales ($mm)
Civitas Solutions (CVTS.RC) Care services for the developmentally disabled $250 $1,227
Spark Energy (SPKE) Natural gas and electricity retailer $92 $326
CareDx (CDNA) Heart transplant monitoring tests $50 $23