Markets

Modest IPOs, Secondaries Follow Facebook Face Plant

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The last days of October saw a revival of emerging growth company initial and secondary public offering filings by financial companies ranging from commercial banks to REITS to hedge fund advisories. West Coast Realty Trust's latest regulatory filing describes plans for an IPO raising about $20.2 million for a retail property REIT operation. The company is starting off by acquiring two properties in California's Sacramento area. The company plans on buying properties in middle and high income regions in California, Northern Nevada and Hawaii. Affiliate University Capital Management will serve as property manager for these and other acquisitions.

Markets

October Turns Ghoulish for Growth Companies

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Increasing market volatility has played more tricks than treats on growth companies raising funds in equity private placements in October. At least in the short term, the financings have spooked investors. With four trading days left in the month, issuers with market capitalizations from $10 million to $1 billion have raised nearly $1 billion in 32 deals, a deal and dollar volume pace that is roughly on par with September’s $1.3 billion raised in 37 transactions, according to PlacementTracker, a service of Sagient Research. But October EPP issuers have seen their share prices decline an average of 5.8% three days after the announcement of their respective deals, compared with an average of less than 1% over the same period in September. What’s more, 72% of issuers in October have seen their shares decline in the three-day post-announcement timeframe, while in September, less than half saw declines.

Markets
Lupowitz_Kevin

Online Markets Innovator Lupowitz Moves on from DirectMarkets

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DirectMarkets CEO Kevin Lupowitz has resigned from the company he launched as the online successor to the former Rodman & Renshaw PIPE banking powerhouse, where he was hired to develop a revolutionary online private placement market platform. Lupowitz moved on to pursue other opportunities, according to a regulatory filing by parent Direct Markets Holdings (MKTS). Rodman recruited Lupowitz as DirectMarkets' CEO, according to a February news release heralding DirectMarkets as an "automated state-of-the-art electronic transaction platform to directly link existing public company issuers and investors seeking to transact primary offerings of securities." Rodman placed over 500 deals that raised some $8.9 billion since 2006 according to PlacementTracker data. The company was involved in placing 31 deals this year but has not placed a transaction since BioSante Pharmaceuticals' registered direct in August.

Markets

Battery Makers Running Low

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A123 Systems’ (AONE) bankruptcy filing on Tuesday further confirmed that battery makers have been some of the worst PIPE wagers in recent years, even as the federal government has charged ahead to create a green economy filled with electric cars. From the beginning of 2009 through mid-October this year, 13 growth issuers striving to revolutionize power storage raised $769 million in 29 transactions, according to PlacementTracker. Yet many of the companies have failed to generate significant revenues and their shares are trading for pennies – if not a fraction of a penny. Just a few years ago, many of these companies enjoyed share prices well in excess of $2 or $3 – or more. Shares of Waltham, Mass.-based A123, for example, were trading around $20 for most of 2009, but they gradually began to fall in 2010 and sunk below $1 in July.