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IPO Story
Kite Realty & Placer Sierra Price Jeffrey R. Hirschkorn, Senior IPO Analyst, Aug. 11, 2004 Two of four planned new issues priced for trading last night. The remaining deals expected were anticipating late night pricings, sources say. For now, investments bankers led by Lehman Brothers and Wachovia Securities priced shares of Kite Realty Group (proposed: KRG), a real estate concern with a principle focus on developing quality neighborhood and community shopping centers. The deal, which priced at $13, sold 16.3 million shares, for trading on the Big Board. Final offering for the deal came in below expectations of $14-$16. Co-managers on the IPO were Goldman Sachs, UBS Investment Bank, KeyBanc Capital Markets and Raymond James. Proceeds from the IPO have been earmarked for several repayment of existing and future debt held by the company. Trading will begin on Wednesday. While, shares of Placer Sierra Bancshares (proposed: PLSB), a California-based financial-services firm that operates several local banking chains, priced at $20. The deal, which was managed by Friedman Billings Ramsey, Keefe Bruyette & Woods and RBC Capital Markets, sold 5.73 million shares. Pricing of the IPO was in the middle of expected talk and was highlighted as a stock to watch in our brief on sectors to watch in times of economic uncertainty. Of course, that was before today�s decision by the FOMC to hike short-term interest rates. At press time, we were awaiting pricing information from investment firm Cohen & Steers (proposed: CNS) and Westlake Chemical (proposed: WLK), a firm involved in the development of basic materials, chemicals, polymers and fabricated products. For Cohen & Steers, plans call for the sale of 7.5 million shares at talk of $13-$15. Merrill Lynch is the sole lead manager on the stock sale. While, Westlake Chemical has enlisted a trio of book runners that include Credit Suisse First Boston, JP Morgan Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities to facilitate its IPO of 11.76 million shares at talk of $16-$18. One stock we were extremely skeptical on was WPT Enterprises (WPTE), a firm known for its World Poker Tour games. Why? It came from little known start-up investment bank Feltl & Company. Generally, when an IPO from a small-cap prices above it�s a traditionally a bad sign. In its first day of trading, WPT Enterprises declined 14.3% to close at $6.86. Volume was nearly 2.78 million shares. The last small-cap underwriting IPO to price above came just a few weeks ago from Paulson Investment Company. Lumera (LMRA), a firm involved in nanotech priced six million shares at $6.95. And, it has fallen on hard times, having closed today at $4.50, representing a decline of 35% from offering. The depressed debut turned in by the first nanotech IPO took out all of the planned fire from Nanosys (proposed: NNSY). This deal sought to price 6.25 million shares at talk of $15-$17 through Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers. The official reason for the withdrawal: market conditions. Add on to the current calendar: Extra Space Storage (proposed: EXR), a firm structured as a REIT and is involved in operating self-service storage centers, is set to price its IPO on Wednesday. Terms for the IPO foresee the sale of 20.2 million shares at talk of $13-$15 through bankers led by UBS Investment Bank and Merrill Lynch. E-mail: jeffh@currentofferings.com. |
