Feb 20, 2023

Author of the article: We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or U.S. IPO pick-up offers hope of market re-open Back to video A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and an inflation rally fueled a bout of market volatility that prevented most initial public offerings in 2022, last week saw a flurry of listings. It is 15 months since there was a busier week, according to Dealogic data. Financial Post Top Stories Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address Sign Up By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails or any newsletter. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Financial Post Top Stories will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Article content Five IPOs, including the $638 million offering of solar tech firm Nextracker Inc and the $190 million offering of Chinese sensor maker Hesai Group, were completed last week. In total, the IPOs raised about $1.17 billion in proceeds, up sixfold from the previous week when stock market debuts raised about $193 million, according to Dealogic. Advertisement 2 REGISTER TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors or If you are a Home delivery print subscriber, unlimited online access is included in your subscription. Activate your Online Access Now Article content IPO bankers and lawyers said that if the market’s thawing continues, aided by a decline in market volatility and a rise in corporate valuations, they expect several major companies waiting in the wings, including social media firm Reddit and SoftBank-owned chipmaker Arm Holdings, could launch their IPOs in the second half of 2023. “It has been really encouraging to see these transactions. We see this as step one in a broader IPO market recovery, with some of the stronger sectors leading the early supply,” said Rob Stowe, co-head of Americas equity capital markets at Barclays Plc. IPOs excluding those of blank-check acquisition companies raised the lowest amount of capital in more than two decades in 2022, with proceeds coming in at $8.7 billion, compared to $154.1 billion in 2021, according to Dealogic. Advertisement 3 Article content Wall Street’s fear gauge, the Cboe Volatility Index, is down nearly 12% since the start of the year, signaling reduced investor anxiety and making the launch of IPOs easier. “I think we’re in a market that has at least begun opening, but it’s not open to all issuers yet,” said Andrew Wetenhall, co-head of equity capital markets for the Americas at Morgan Stanley. Some companies are waiting for a sustained IPO recovery before deciding to pull the trigger for their debut, some of the advisers said. That will likely take at least until the summer if the market recovery continues, they added. “It could be into the summer before you begin to see a more traditional IPO calendar. It’s going to be very industry specific, thematic oriented in this next wave (of IPOs),” said Michael Wise, JPMorgan’s vice chairman for equity capital markets. (Reporting by Echo Wang in New York; Editing by Anirban Sen and Chris Reese)