Canada IPO market luring action
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
TORONTO, June 1 (Reuters): More than a few Canadian companies are ready to go public, though only a handful - some gutsy tech startups with heavy backing -- are likely to brave the recent market turbulence and take the final step.
Over the past weeks, initial public stock offerings by Canadian companies have not fared so well, raising less cash than expected in some cases and dropping below their IPO price soon after trading began in others.
Despite months of preparation, sponsors of some issues have pulled or delayed them after prospective buyers proved disinterested.
Even so, investors at last week's annual Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association meeting in Ottawa were upbeat about the health of the IPO market. Most of those interviewed see activity picking up soon as confidence returns from its nadir during the global financial crisis.
"I think we should expect to see a lot more (IPOs) through the balance of the year, unless there's some other major new (market) event," said Rick Nathan, managing director at Kensington Capital Partners, a Toronto-based firm with some C$500 million in capital under management.
The names bandied about at the CVCA meeting, the largest annual industry gathering of its kind in Canada, were mostly in technology fields.
Over the past weeks, initial public stock offerings by Canadian companies have not fared so well, raising less cash than expected in some cases and dropping below their IPO price soon after trading began in others.
Despite months of preparation, sponsors of some issues have pulled or delayed them after prospective buyers proved disinterested.
Even so, investors at last week's annual Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association meeting in Ottawa were upbeat about the health of the IPO market. Most of those interviewed see activity picking up soon as confidence returns from its nadir during the global financial crisis.
"I think we should expect to see a lot more (IPOs) through the balance of the year, unless there's some other major new (market) event," said Rick Nathan, managing director at Kensington Capital Partners, a Toronto-based firm with some C$500 million in capital under management.
The names bandied about at the CVCA meeting, the largest annual industry gathering of its kind in Canada, were mostly in technology fields.