A Banner Year for IPOs: 2013's Performance Revealed

Strategic Insights -

In 2013, over 200 companies went public on major U.S. exchanges, raising a total of $55 billion, the best year for initial public offerings since 2000. While the Canadian market experienced a more muted activity, still witnessing 18 IPOs worth a total of $2.65 billion, an improvement over 2012. The year saw several standout performers, including ExOne Co., QIWI PLC, and Aratana Therapeutics Inc., which beat the S&P 500 by 100 percentage points or more. However, some IPOs, such as Foundation Medicine Inc. and Veeva Systems, failed to meet expectations, getting caught in the biopharma downdraft caused by the failure of Prosensa Holding NV's muscular-dystrophy drug.

Key Takeaways:

  • In 2013, more than 200 companies went public on major U.S. exchanges, raising a total of $55 billion, making it the best year for IPOs since 2000 (Renaissance Capital).
  • The Canadian IPO market saw 18 debuts, worth a total of $2.65 billion, an improvement over 2012 but slightly more than half of 2011's level (PricewaterhouseCoopers).
  • In the United States, more than half of the IPOs outperformed the S&P 500 from their first-day close (Bloomberg data).
  • The top 5 U.S. IPO performers were ExOne Co., QIWI PLC, Aratana Therapeutics Inc., Voxeljet AG, and ChannelAdvisor Corp. (Bloomberg).
  • The bottom 5 U.S. IPO performers were Prosensa Holding NV, Violin Memory Inc., LipoScience Inc., Cyan Inc., and KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Bloomberg).
  • Canada's Leading IPO performers were BRP Inc., Information Services Corp., and Halogen Software Inc. (The Globe and Mail).
  • Only three of the 18 Canadian IPOs outperformed the TSX Composite from their first-day closing price, while six underperformed by double digits (The Globe and Mail).

Statistics:

  • 223 companies went public on major U.S. exchanges in 2013.
  • 11 of the U.S. IPOs consisted of $1 billion worth of stock or more (Bloomberg).
  • 85 U.S. IPOs outperformed the S&P 500 by 10 percentage points or more from their first-day close.
  • 45 U.S. IPOs outperformed the S&P 500 by 25 percentage points or more from their first-day close (Bloomberg).
  • BRP Inc. outperformed the TSX Composite by 34.6 percentage points since its IPO (The Globe and Mail).
  • Agellan Commercial REIT, Inovalis REIT, and WPT Industrial REIT all lost roughly 12 to 13 percent from their debuts, and have underperformed the broader market by 19 to 24 percent as a result (The Globe and Mail).

Sources:

  • Bloomberg
  • Renaissance Capital
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • The Globe and Mail
  • John Sopinski, The Globe and Mail
  • SOURCE: Bloomberg