58.com (WUBA) began trading on the NYSE on 31 October 2013

Beijing-based 58.com Inc. visited NYSE this morning to celebrate the company’s IPO under the ticker symbol WUBA. 58.com Inc. operates China’s largest online marketplace serving local merchants and consumers.

To mark the occasion Founder, Chairman & CEO, Jinbo Yao, rang the Opening Bell.

58.com, China’s equivalent of Craigslist

Though it has drawn comparisons to Craigslist, 58.com’s similarity to the U.S. site ends at the listings. Unlike in the U.S. and other Western countries where Craigslist operates, many small and medium enterprises in China’s smaller cities don’t yet widely use the Internet for business. As a result, 58.com runs offices in 26 different Chinese cities, making use of a local presence to train vendors in local environs on how to use its site. The company then sells the vendors memberships or other marketing packages, which give listings a special priority at the top of different sections of the site.

Brixmor Property Group (BRX) began trading on the NYSE on 30 October 2013

Brixmor Property Group, the nation's largest owned portfolio of grocery community shopping centers, visited the NYSE to celebrate the company’s completion of its IPO and first day of trading under the ticker symbol “BRX.” To highlight this important milestone, CEO Michael Carroll, joined by members of Brixmor Property Group’s leadership team, rang the NYSE Opening Bell.

Description

Brixmor Property Group Inc. (Brixmor), is a internally-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates the wholly owned portfolio of grocery-anchored community and neighborhood shopping centers in the United States. As of June 30, 2013, its portfolio consists of 522 shopping centers totaling approximately 87 million square feet of gross leasable area (GLA). 521 of these shopping centers are 100% owned. Its four tenants by annualized base rent (ABR) are The Kroger Co. (Kroger), The TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX Companies), Publix Super Markets, Inc. (Publix) and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Walmart). The Company derives its revenues primarily from rents (including percentage rents based on tenants’ sales levels) and expense reimbursements due to the Company from tenants under existing leases at each of its properties.

Address

7th Floor, 420 Lexington Avenu
NEW YORK, NY 10170
United States

Website links http://brixmor.com

Key stats and ratios

	Q2 (Jun '13)	2012
Net profit margin	-19.47%	-13.66%
Operating margin	15.35%	20.50%
EBITD margin	-	65.40%
Return on average assets	-2.35%	-1.57%
Return on average equity	-9.99%	-6.49%
Employees	475

Gogo (GOGO) lands first international customer

• ticker:  GOGO

Gogo Inc., which provides Internet access on commercial flights, has landed its first international airline customer.

The Itasca, Illinois-based company said today it won a contract to provide broadband to Japan Airlines' 77-plane domestic fleet, starting next year. JAL will use Gogo's satellite-based Internet service, which was announced in January, joining launch customer Delta Air Lines, which is installing it on its international fleet.

Gogo stock rose 5 percent in morning trading to $17.10. It went public at $17 on June 21 but traded as low as $9.71 on Aug. 21.

The deal is critical to Gogo because most U.S. airlines have chosen broadband providers.

"We're in open dialogues with carriers around the world," Gogo spokesman Steve Nolan said.

Gogo emerged as the early leader, landing Delta, American Airlines, US Airways, Virgin America and Alaska Airlines. About 80 percent of planes in North America that have Wi-Fi use Gogo's equipment, although competition is increasing. Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc. tested Gogo's service on some aircraft before choosing Panasonic's satellite system for its international fleet.

Adoption of in-flight Internet connectivity has been slow. Overall penetration finally has risen above 6 percent, though on some transcontinental flights it can top 30 percent.

The company initially developed a ground-based system, using a network of cellular towers, for domestic service. But airlines see the highest demand — and the highest likelihood that customers will pay for the service — on long international flights. That meant Gogo had to come up with a satellite-based solution. It waited for next-generation technology that has much higher capacity. The first satellite-equipped planes are expected to be in service this year.

In the meantime, it's been cranking up the capacity of its ground-based network to keep up with demand for bandwidth-hogging uses, such as video. Gogo doesn't allow passengers to stream Netflix, but they can surf YouTube.

Last year, Gogo began installing additional antennae on aircraft, tripling the average peak download speeds on board to about 12 megabits per second. By combining satellite and ground-based systems, it can boost speeds to about 60 megabits per second. That's nearly double the average peak U.S. broadband speed of about 36 megabits per second, according to Akamai Technologies' "state of the Internet" report.

2013 a record year for MLP IPOs

There were 14 MLP IPOs in 2007. Until this year, that was the record, but so far in 2013 there have been 15 MLP IPOs with perhaps more to come before year end. One of the more recent IPOs was Sprague Resources (NYSE: SRLP), which debuted on Oct. 25.

Antero Resources (AR) began trading on the NYSE on 10 October 2013

• Antero Resources (AR) is a leading producer of oil and gas in the Marcellus shale region in and around West Virginia.
• Antero has posted triple-digit profit growth in each of the past three quarters. Profit for 2014 is seen rising 145% to $1.59 a share, followed by a 52% gain in 2015.

Antero Resources Corp.’s shares surged in their trading debut, after the gas driller sold more shares than planned in its $1.5 billion initial public offering and priced the deal above its projected range.

Antero, which operates natural-gas and oil wells in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, was up 19% at $52.23 in midmorning trading, after opening up 23% at $54.15.

The Denver-based company, led by energy-industry veterans Paul Rady and Glen Warren, agreed to sell 35.7 million shares late Wednesday–19% more than it had planned–for $44 apiece. Antero had seen the shares fetching $38 to $42 each, according to a regulatory filing.

The deal followed a rally in the shares of energy companies like Antero, which extract oil and gas from the so-called shale rock formations in the U.S. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. gained 42% year-to-date through Wednesday while another peer company, EQT Corp.EQT -1.20%, climbed 47%, outperforming the S&P 500′s 16% advance.

The $1.57 billion deal value, which could increase if underwriters exercise their option to buy additional shares, marks the largest U.S.-listed IPO for an oil-and-gas company since Statoil ASA’s $2.9 billion debut in June 2001, according to Dealogic.

Chief Executive and Chairman Paul Rady formed Antero with President and Chief Financial Officer Glen Warren in 2002. They sold the company’s assets to XTO Energy Inc. for about $1 billion in April 2005 and set out to develop new wells with essentially a new company under a new name.

New York private-equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC invested in Antero in 2003 and again in 2007, according to Warburg’s website. Antero’s financial backers, which also include Yorktown Partners LLC and Trilantic Capital Partners, didn’t sell shares in the offering.

Antero posted $735.7 million in revenue last year, up 6.4% from 2011.

The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AR.” Barclays PLC led the offering with Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Renaissance Capital Launches the Renaissance IPO ETF (Symbol: IPO)

The new ETF is linked to the Renaissance IPO Index, which is a benchmark designed to hold the largest, most liquid newly listed domestic IPOs. The underlying benchmark is dynamic in nature; IPO is expected to include new companies on the fifth day of trading, or upon quarterly review. Furthermore, the entire basket of holdings is rebalanced regularly as the index removes securities after they have been publicly traded for two years.

Renaissance Capital is well versed when it comes to new public offerings as the company boasts a reputation as a global IPO investment advisor; the firm is responsible for managing the Global IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund (IPOSX) as well as separately managed institutional accounts.

The IPO ETF is designed to offer investors a broad-based approach for accessing the newest companies well before they would be eligible for inclusion in funds linked to more traditional, passive “core” equity indexes. As of September 30, 2013, IPO’s benchmark included significant exposure to:

• Facebook (FB)   (11.0% position)
• Michael Kors Holdings (KORS) (9.8% position)
• Workday (WDAY) (4.5% position in the cloud-based HR platform)

Meet The Competition
The new IPO ETF charges 0.60% in expense fees, placing it in the “expensive” end of the cost spectrum among offerings in the All Cap Equities ETFdb Category. However, given the fund’s niche strategy, it really has one direct competitor at the moment: the First Trust IPOX-100 Index Fund (FPX, B). By comparison, the First Trust offering charges the same expense ratio and has managed to accumulate over $180 million in assets under management since launching in April of 2006.

The Renaissance IPO ETF warrants a closer look from anyone looking to gain broad exposure to the newest companies hitting the stock market, but are wary of doing so on a stock-by-stock basis.

****

The fund is linked to the Renaissance IPO Index, an index developed in-house by Renaissance Capital. New companies are included in the index on a fast-entry basis on the fifth day of trading, or upon quarterly review, and are removed after two years when the IPOs become seasoned stocks. The index incorporates certain size, liquidity and free-float criteria to ensure investability.

As of October 21, 2013, top holdings in the index include a 10.9% position in leading social network Facebook, a 9.9% position in global animal health company Zoetis, formerly part of Pfizer, a 9.8% position in automotive parts manufacturer Delphi Automotive, a 9.2% position in global luxury fashion brand Michael Kors, and a 5.3% position in real estate broker Realogy. The fund has a total expense ratio of 0.60%.

The Renaissance Capital offering will compete against the First Trust US IPO Index ETF (FPX), also listed on the NYSE Arca. This fund, which launched in April 2006 and has $227 million in assets, tracks the IPOX-100 US Index, a modified value-weighted price index measuring the performance of the 100 largest, typically best-performing and most liquid US public offerings and spin-offs. The index is dynamically reconstituted as IPOs enter the index at their 7th trading day and exit automatically 1000 trading days thereafter. It has an expense ratio of 0.60%.

Springleaf (LEAF) began trading on the NYSE on 16 October 2013

• SpringLeaf is controlled by private-equity firm Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG), which bought it in 2010 from American International Group Inc.

Springleaf Holdings CEO Jay N. Levine rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the company's recent IPO on October 17, 2013 in New York City.

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment (CHMI) began trading on the NYSE on 4 October 2013

Shares of Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corp. are falling in their trading debt Friday after the company raised $130 million in its initial public offering.

The mortgage investment company priced its IPO at $20 per share. In morning trading, its shares fell $1.20, or 6 percent, to $18.80.

Proceeds will be used to buy mortgage serving rights and mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, the Moorestown, New Jersey-based company said.

Its shares are trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CHMI."

OCTOBER 21: Executives and guests of Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corporation ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on October 21, 2013 in New York City

Athlon Energy (ATHL) began trading on the NYSE on 2 August 2013

Note: In 2014,  Athlon Energy was acquired by Encana Corporation (ECA) for $7.1 billion or $58.50 each. 

Oil Driller IPO Athlon Energy Races In Permian Basin 

• About 65% of Athlon stock is owned by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management (APO). 

The Permian Basin, which lies in western Texas and stretches across into southeast New Mexico, is having an oil exploration and production rebirth.

The basin has one of the world's thickest deposits of rocks from the Permian geologic period. While oil and gas outfits have been operating here for decades, an infusion of new technologies has launched another "oil rush."

Athlon Energy (ATHL) is ready to benefit from the area's recent revival. The Forth Worth, Texas-based independent oil and gas explorer has only been operating since 2011 and went public in August of this year. It currently holds nearly 100,000 net acres with an average working interest of 93% in the area.

So far, it's been developing vertical wells and has done a good job at that. It produced more than 11,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the second quarter, a 68% jump vs. the year-ago period.

Athlon's operations mainly focus on the Wolfberry play, an area characterized by high oil and liquids-rich natural gas. But now that horizontal drilling technology offers incremental opportunities on the same acreage, Athlon is ideally positioned to gain from the innovation.

"The Permian Basin has definitely seen a renaissance over the past couple of years. It's one of the oldest basins in the U.S. to find oil in," said Will Green, an analyst at Stephens. "What we've seen in the last handful of years is companies moving from a vertical approach toward more horizontal drilling."

For Athlon "it's been great" in the Permian Basin and "100% of the assets" are there, he said. "And it's been a focus on taking what's traditionally been a vertical play and moving more horizontally."

Sideways Strategy
Athlon dipped its toes into horizontal drilling in August. It plans to drill four horizontal wells by the end of the year. That's in addition to seven vertical rigs that it will be running this year. By year's end, it expects to have drilled a total of 161 gross operated vertical wells.

"We plan to drill our first two horizontal wells in Midland County and then move to Glasscock County to drill two additional wells in 2013," Athlon CEO Bob Reeves said in the company's second-quarter earnings release. "This is an exciting time for Athlon as we commence our horizontal drilling program that we expect will further accelerate returns on our deep well inventory in the prolific Midland Basin."

Horizontal drilling is when an oil and gas explorer drills down vertically about 8,000 to 10,000 feet and then starts going laterally anywhere between 7,000 and 10,000 feet. This allows it to contact more rock and extract more oil using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Adam Michael, analyst at Miller Tabak, said that by adding horizontal drilling, a company can recover 10 times as much oil as it does with vertical wells. "There is a lot of horizontal optionality for Athlon because of the emerging technologies that allow those operators to unlock this value," he noted.

Cost Of Drilling
So far, Athlon's vertical wells have proven to be very profitable and have given the firm a consistent rate of return in addition to providing it with solid cash flow. But while a vertical well can cost approximately $2 million, the cost of a horizontal well can range closer to $6 million to $8 million, Green said.

Management stated that the $554 million in liquidity raised at its IPO will be used for future drilling activity. Michael estimates that the IPO proceeds and the company's generated cash flow from the vertical drilling program will fund most of the 2013 required capex of $350 million and much, if not all, of the $420 million estimated capex requirement in 2014.

More Oil, Same Space
But while horizontal drilling is more expensive, it also provides a higher return and in the end is more efficient. From each vertical well, a company can produce about 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) over the life of the well, notes Green. In comparison, a horizontal well's lifetime production can be as high as 600,000 to 700,000 BOE. He expects about a third of Athlon's 2014 production growth to come from horizontal drilling.

"Companies like Athlon, that have built good acreage positions, have lots of running room. All of a sudden, they have 10 years of drilling inventory of really good oil wells," Michael said. "The nice thing about the Permian is you don't just have one formation you're drilling, you have multiple stacked formations."
That multiplies acreage by a multiple of how many formations you have, he says, and in the Permian it could be as many as six formations.

About 65% of Athlon stock is owned by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management (APO). Management is considered strong with a solid financial background.

Prior to Athlon's formation, CEO Reeves, a certified public accountant, served as CFO at Encore Energy Partners (ENP). Before joining Athlon in 2013, CFO William Butler was a managing director at the investment banking firm Stephens, and before that he was treasurer at XTO Energy, which later became a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil (XOM).

Management Approach
This sort of financial experience at the top differentiates Athlon from many oil and gas producers, which often have engineers or other technical people at the helm.
Athlon management applies a conservative approach to the company's financials, while showing a nearly 100% success rate in drilling vertically. In addition, Apollo has several members on Athlon's board and very active participation.

Athlon also has solid hedges in place for the price of oil, at more than $92 per barrel of oil for 2013 and 2014. For the second half of 2013, oil hedging represents 92% of 2013 and 84% of 2014 estimated production, Michael notes in a research report. This is a lot higher than the typical hedging target in the industry of more than 50%. It provides higher visibility into Athlon's earnings going forward.

"They've got the right real estate and you're seeing a dynamic time in the Permian where companies are moving from vertical drilling to horizontal drilling," Michael said. "The more results we get out of Athlon and other area operators, the more conviction investors get. You're definitely seeing that process happening now and so far it looks really really encouraging."

Retail Properties of America - profile

Retail Properties of America, Inc., formerly Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust, Inc. is a fully integrated, self administered and self-managed real estate company that owns and operates shopping centers. The Company is an owner and operator of shopping centers in the United States. 

As of December 31, 2011, its retail operating portfolio consisted of 259 properties with approximately 3.6 million square feet of gross leasable area (GLA), was diversified across 35 states and includes power centers, community centers, neighborhood centers and lifestyle centers, as well as single-user retail properties. The Company’s retail properties are located in retail districts. In August 2012, the Company sold a 1.04-million-square-foot Cost Plus Distribution Center in Stockton. In September 2012, it disposed 13 former Mervyns locations. As of December 31, 2011, it had a retail tenant base that includes approximately 1,500. In October 2012, it sold 18 non-core and non-strategic assets.

** daily **

** weekly ** 

Address

Suite 200 2021 Spring Road
OAK BROOK, IL 60523
United States 

Website links www.rpai.com

Key stats and ratios

	Q2 (Jun '13)	2012
Net profit margin	7.69%	-1.13%
Operating margin	31.76%	25.84%
EBITD margin	-	64.94%
Return on average assets	0.86%	-0.11%
Return on average equity	1.43%	-0.30%
Employees	250

Voxeljet (VJET) began trading on the NYSE on 18 October 2013

Voxeljet Celebrates IPO at NYSE (4 photos) German technology company Voxeljet (NYSE:VJET) began trading on the NYSE today, and executives celebrated the IPO on the Trading Floor. Voxeljet provides three-dimensional (3D) printers and on-demand parts services.

Revenue  $11.25M
Net Income  $273,849
2012 Sales Growth  10.8%
Employees  87

CEO Ingo Ederer and CFO Rudolf Franz of Voxeljet visit the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the company's IPO on October 18, 2013 in New York City.

Voxeljet produces large-format 3D printing machines and on-demand parts services, which are sold to customers in automotive, aerospace, film, entertainment, art, architecture, engineering and consumer product sectors.

In February, 3D printer maker ExOne (XONE) launched at $18 a share, closed its first day at 26.52 and was trading near 54.30 Friday afternoon, up 2.5%.

The only other publicly traded 3D printer makers have also had top-performing stocks, as the manufacturing technology is fast gaining steam in business and even consumer markets. The largest, 3D Systems (DDD), was up 1% near 57, and is up more than 60% for the year. Stratasys (SSYS) stock was up 2% near 112, and it's up 40% in 2013.

In its IPO filings, Voxeljet said it has a global installed base of 52 printers. It said 2012 revenue rose 20% to 8.7 million euros, or $11.3 million. It said profit rose 393% to 212,000 euros, or $276,000.

In the first six months of the year ended June 30, Voxeljet reported revenue of 4.4 million euros ($5.8 million), down 3.5% from the year-earlier period. In that span, it said it swung to a loss of 376,000 euros ($489,000) from a profit of 319,000 euros.

Voxeljet plans to use the funds from the offering to expand its on-demand parts service center in Europe and build new on-demand parts service centers in North America and Asia. The company also expects to boost its R&D and marketing efforts and set some of the cash aside for acquisitions.

Veeva (VEEV) began trading on the NYSE on 16 October 2013

Cloud-based software company is geared to life sciences industry

• software firm specializing in the pharmaceutical industry

Shares of Veeva Systems soared Wednesday as the company made its public trading debut, highlighting heightened investor interest in initial public offerings by cloud-based firms.

Veeva VEEV +0.51%   climbed 85.8% to close at $37.16. The Pleasanton, Calif.-based company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Veeva priced its IPO at $20 a share, above its revised range of $16 to $18. The company, which is geared to the life sciences market, had initially set a range of $12 to $14.

Founded in 2007, the company offers Web-based applications that help pharmaceutical and biotech companies manage content and customer relations.

Veeva Systems founder and CEO Peter Gassner 

Unlike traditional software vendors, Veeva makes software applications available on a peruser, per-month basis. The company is part of a wave in IT in which businesses access computing power through a network and pay for computing access they need and use, thus avoiding the expense of setting up data centers.

Veeva co-founder and Chief Executive Peter Gassner witnessed the growth of the trend as a veteran of the tech industry, including Salesforce.com (CRM), known as a pioneer of the software-as-a-service model.

Gassner said he also saw opportunity in industry-specific applications and decided to start Veeva with the life-sciences market in mind.

“Some of the most important applications out there are industry-specific applications,” he told MarketWatch. “You can have strong revenue growth and strong profit in a cloud computing company. That’s what’s generating enthusiasm.”

For its fiscal year ended Jan. 31 2013, Veeva posted a net income of about $19 million, on revenue of roughly $130 million, compared with a profit of $4 million, and revenue of $61 million in the year-earlier period.

Another cloud-based company, Textura Corp. (TXTR), which offers Web-based applications to contractors and construction firms, has its stock soar nearly threefold since going public in June with an IPO price of $15.

Alcobra (ADHD)

Description

Alcobra Ltd is an Israel-based Biopharmaceutical company. It focuses on the development and commercialization of a proprietary drug, MG01CI, to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a common and morbid neuropsychiatric condition in children and adults. Adult ADHD is associated with increased health risks and healthcare costs, higher divorce rates, lower levels of socioeconomic attainment, lower academic achievement, unemployment and work place deficits, increased risks for motor vehicle accidents, greater likelihood of additional psychiatric disorders, increased criminal activity and incarceration, and higher rates of substance use and abuse. MG01CI product has completed phase two studies.

Address

4th Floor 35 Ehad Ha-Am Street
TEL AVIV-YAFO, 65202
Israel

Website links 

www.alcobra-pharma.com

Key stats and ratios

	Q2 (Jun '13)	2012
Net profit margin	-	-
Operating margin	-	-
EBITD margin	-	-
Return on average assets	-	-224.77%
Return on average equity	-	-755.50%
Employees	3

British Game Maker Behind Candy Crush files for IPO

King, the British computer games maker behind Candy Crush Saga, has quietly filed documents for an initial public offering in the US, expected to value the firm at more than $5bn.

King.com CEO Riccardo Zacconi

The company has filed for a public offering in the United States, according to people briefed on the matter, in what promises to be one of the biggest debuts by a gaming company in over a year. It has also retained Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and JPMorgan Chase to lead the offering, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the listing process is being done in secret.

King's reported filing is similar to the one that allowed Twitter to keep its IPO confidential last week. King hired a chief financial officer, Hope Cochran, this week. She held the same title at Clearwire, which built the first 4G network in the USA and merged with Sprint in 2012.

King has increasingly gained the attention of investors and analysts for the worldwide success of Candy Crush Saga. The popular puzzle game has helped King reach nearly 250 million monthly active players and generate a few million dollars a day.

Both anticipated public stock offerings come amid a dearth of tech public offerings. Just one in six new U.S. listings this year have been tech-related stocks, making 2013 potentially the second-worst showing in 20 years, according to data provider Dealogic. At the height of the dot-com boom, in 1999, 69% of all IPOs were technology or Internet companies.

Candy Crush Saga is the most popular game played on Facebook

The 22 tech-related U.S. IPOs this year – out of 134 – have raised $3.4 billion.

Tech's lag is a clear byproduct of Facebook's disappointing IPO debut in May 2012. Before it, Zynga stumbled out of the IPO gate in December 2011.

King could trigger more tech-centric public offerings, including long-rumored IPOs for Box and Dropbox in 2014.

Levy Restaurants launches IPO to create acquisitions firm

Levy Restaurants Inc., the Chicago-based food-service company helmed by Larry Levy, wants to raise $150 million through an initial public offering to fund a new acquisition company.

The new firm, called Levy Acquisition Corp., was created "for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses," according to a document filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
No target deals have been identified and no company has approached Levy Acquisition to date, the company said in its prospectus.

The public offering calls for issuing 15 million units at $10 each. Each unit would give an investor one share of common stock and half a warrant. A whole warrant can be used to buy a share of stock at $11.50. The warrants can be exercised 30 days after Levy Acquisition's first deal or a year after it goes public.
Levy Acquisition has applied to list its units on the Nasdaq under the ticker LEVYU, its common stock under LEVY and warrants under LEVYW.

Levy Acquisition Sponsor LLC — a group that includes Mr. Levy; his son, Ari Levy; his stepson, Steven Florsheim; and Sophia Stratton, chief financial officer of Levy Family Partners, the family investment company — has already purchased 4.3 million shares of common stock for $25,000. That group will serve as directors of Levy Acquisition Corp. in addition to Howard Bernick, Craig Duchossois and Marc Simon. Mr. Bernick is the former president and CEO of Alberto-Culver Co. Mr. Duchossois is CEO of Duchossois Group Inc., and Mr. Simon is a former CEO of Halo Industries Inc.

Larry Levy, founder of Levy Restaurants Inc. 

Mr. Levy is the co-founder of Levy Restaurants, which operates concessions at various stadiums and arenas including Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Park. It also owns restaurants including Spiaggia and Fulton's on the River in Chicago.

Potbelly (PBPB) began trading on the NASDAQ on 4 October 2013

• Potbelly Corp. shares more than doubled as they debuted this morning.
• The Chicago-based sandwich restaurant chain began trading on the Nasdaq at $14, but the stock was up 136 percent at $32.94 in midday trading.
  

  ticker: PBPB

Executives at the company, known for its Wreck and Hammie sandwiches, were optimistic about the initial public offering. They raised the opening price to $13 earlier this week and then to $14 before trading beganafter an original range of $9 to $11.

Potbelly raised $97.5 million by releasing 75 million shares into the market under the symbol PBPB.

Foundation Medicine (FMI) began trading on the NASDAQ on 25 September 2013

Cancer diagnostic company Foundation Medicine (FMI) shares rose as much as 89 percent in their market debut as investors bet on the potential of genomics in the treatment of the disease.

The company, which counts Bill Gates and Russian billionaire Yuri Milner as investors, develops FoundationOne test kits, used by doctors to recommend treatment options for cancer patients based on their genetic profile.

It also analyzes tissue samples from clinical trials conducted by companies such as Novartis AG (NOVN.VX), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Celgene Corp (CELG). Novartis accounts for more than 10 percent of Foundation Medicine's revenue.

Personalized medicine, the new buzzword in the field of pharmaceuticals, is seen as the future of cancer treatment, targeting the type of cancer instead of the organ in which the tumor is.

Genetic tests are used to predict patients' vulnerability to diseases and identify specific medicines for individual patients.

"It seems like a fairly large market for what they're (Foundation Medicine) targeting in terms of solid tumors and rare and recurring cancers," Wedbush Securities analyst Zarak Khurshid said. "The whole space for personalized medicine in cancer diagnostics is several billion dollars," he said.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company raised about $106.2 million after its initial public offering was priced at $18 per share, well above its expected price of $14-$16.

Foundation Medicine's shares touched a high of $34.19 on the Nasdaq, valuing the company at about $900 million. About 6 million shares changed hands, making it one of the most heavily traded stocks on the exchange.

The stock was at $33.80 in early afternoon trading.

Foundation Medicine is the third biotech company to be taken public this year by its majority shareholder Third Rock Ventures.

Third Rock's Bluebird Bio Inc (BLUE) made a successful market debut in June and its shares have risen 69 percent since then. Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc (AGIO) was taken public by the venture fund in July. Agios shares have risen more than 40 percent since their listing.

Other investors in Foundation Medicine include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures and Gates Ventures LLC.

Foundation Medicine, which expects to launch the test for blood cancers by early next year, said net proceeds from the offering would be used to expand its commercial and laboratory operations and fund clinical studies.

The company's net loss widened to $22.7 million in 2012 from $17.3 million a year earlier. Revenue rose four-fold to $10.6 million.

Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan were the lead underwriters for the offering.

Shares of eye drug maker Ophthotech Corp (OPHT), which also went public on Wednesday, rose as much as 22 percent. The company raised about $167.2 million after its offering was priced at $22 per share, above its expected price of $16-$19.

 ========= Foundation Medicine (FMI)

• This Boston-area company sells a $5,800 test that examines a person’s genetic makeup to possibly help doctors find more effective ways of combating cancer. 

Foundation’s FMI methods were once tried out on the late Steve Jobs, the Apple Inc. AAPL founder who battled pancreatic cancer and ultimately succumbed to it in 2011.
 MIT Technology review notes that an early form of Foundation’s test was used by Jobs, at a cost of $100,000, so that he could learn the DNA sequence of his genome and perhaps understand how the tumors that had ravaged his body got there in the first place. The company is getting the support of such tech heavyweights as Google Inc. GOOG and Microsoft Corp. MSFT founder Bill Gates.

Empire State Realty (ESRT) began trading on the NYSE on 2 October 2013

Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) was last up 26 cents, or 2%, to $13.26 on Wednesday, rising in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange after its initial public offering priced at the low end of the expected range. Empire State Realty owns the Empire State Building and other New York properties. 

On Tuesday, the real estate investment trust sold 71.5 million shares for $13 each in its IPO to raise $929.5 million, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The company had predicted shares would price at between $13 and $15.

• Sector(s): Real Estate
• Industry: REIT - Diversified
• Full Time Employees: 666
• https://www.esrtreit.com

Ticker:  ESRT 

History

• At 1,454 feet, the new art deco skyscraper rises above the Chrysler Building, in the background. At its 1931 opening, the Empire State Building was nearly empty, thanks to the Depression. Construction took only one year and 45 days. The building's official opening was marked by President Herbert Hoover switching on its lights from Washington.
• Shortly before 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 28, 1945, a 10-ton B-25 bomber flew into the 78th and 79th floors of the Empire State Building. The explosion blew a hole 18 feet wide and sent one of the bomber's engines through the other side and across 33rd Street onto the roof of another building. Fourteen people died, but the building remained structurally intact.
• A $20 million makeover that began recently will replace all 6,513 windows to reduce energy consumption.
• With the collapse of the World Trade Center's towers, the Empire State Building again became New York's tallest building. It will return to second place once the new One World Trade Center building is completed, in late 2013.

Re/Max (RMAX) began trading on the NYSE on 2 October 2013

Real estate brokerage franchiser RE/Max Holdings (RMAX) surged 22% in its trading debut on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday. After pricing its 10-million-share initial public offering at $22 a share, the stock was trading at $26.19 in the early going.

November 12 : Colorado-based RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. opened the market to celebrate the company’s recent IPO on October 2, 2013 under the ticker symbol “RMAX”. In honor of the occasion, RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder Dave Liniger, Vice Chair and Co-Founder Gail Liniger and Chief Executive Officer Margaret Kelly, rang the Opening Bell. RE/MAX is one of the world’s leading franchisors of real estate brokerage services.