Pulmonx (LUNG) : 2-year performance

 

Imago BioSciences (IMGO) : 5-month performance

 

Grindr (GRND) : 2-week performance

 

FTCI : 18-month performance

 ticker:  FTCI

Imago BioSciences (IMGO) to be acquired by Merck (MRK) for $36.00/share

 

 

Imago BioSciences to be acquired by Merck (MRK) for $36.00/share 

• Cos announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Merck, through a subsidiary, will acquire Imago for $36.00 per share in cash for an approximate total equity value of $1.35 billion.
• “This acquisition of Imago augments our pipeline and strengthens our presence in the growing field of hematology,” said Merck Chief Executive Robert Davis in a news release.
• 
  
• Hematology is the branch of medicine that focuses on the study of blood diseases. Imago is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing new medicines for the treatment of several bone marrow diseases.

Carvana (CVNA) lays off 1,500 employees

• Carvana is laying off about 1,500 people, or 8% of its workforce, following a free fall in the company’s stock this year and concerns around its long-term trajectory.

• The email from Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia cites economic headwinds including higher financing costs and delayed car purchasing.

• He says the company “failed to accurately predict how this would all play out and the impact it would have on our business.”

• Ticker: CVNA

Carvana is laying off about 1,500 people, or 8% of its workforce, Friday following a free fall in the company’s stock this year, a weakening used vehicle market and concerns around the company’s long-term trajectory, according to an internal message first obtained by CNBC’s Scott Wapner.

The email from Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia, titled “Today is a hard day,” cites economic headwinds including higher financing costs and delayed car purchasing. He says the company “failed to accurately predict how this would all play out and the impact it would have on our business.”

Carvana stock closed Friday at $8.06 per share, down by 3.1%. Carvana’s stock has plummeted by about 97% this year after reaching an all-time intraday high of $376.83 per share on Aug. 10, 2021.

Charts 2 years later:

 

 

 

 

Grindr (GRND) began trading on the NYSE on Fri 18 Nov 22

Grindr, which launched in 2009, reported roughly 11 million daily users per day last year. Users sent a combined 260 million messages in that same period, and spent an average of 61 minutes per day on the app. In the same announcement, Grindr estimated the value of its "highly engaged user base in a large and untapped addressable market" at $4 billion.

• Grindr begins trading on NYSE today after completing business combination with Tiga Acquisition Corp. (TINV) 

 

 

Ventyx Biosciences (VTYX) : 1-year performance

 

Getty Images (GETY) : 4-month performance

 

Polestar (PSNY) began trading on the Nasdaq on Fri 24 June 22

• Polestar already has more than 55,000 vehicles on the road in China, Europe and the U.S. It has a factory up and running in China and an assembly line set to begin production later this year in a South Carolina factory shared with Volvo.
• Polestar began as a joint venture between Volvo Cars and its Chinese owner Zhejiang Geely in 2017.
• CEO Thomas Ingenlath

First day of trading, June 24, the EV maker’s shares ended the day at $13.00, up 15.8% .

So far, most SPAC mergers with electric vehicle companies haven’t worked out well for investors. Even the relatively more successful cases of Lucid Group, Fisker and Nikola are currently trading at 67%, 69% and 92% below their post-merger highs, respectively. EV truck maker Rivian, which went public via a traditional IPO, has also struggled. Its shares are down 84% from its post-IPO high.

Over the next three years, the company plans to add three vehicles to its current model, the compact Polestar 2 crossover built in China. The additions are a large SUV, the Polestar 3; a midsize crossover, the Polestar 4; and a large sedan, the Polestar 5, which is intended to serve as the brand’s flagship vehicle.

All will be fully electric and all will be offered in the U.S., Europe and China. Polestar plans to build its vehicles in all three regions.

Amprius Technologies (AMPX) began trading on the NYSE on Thu 15 Sep 22

Amprius Technologies, Inc. produces and sells ultra-high energy density lithium-ion batteries for mobility applications. The company offers silicon nanowire anode batteries for use in the aerospace, defense, and electric vehicle applications. 

• Sector(s): Industrials
• Industry: Electrical Equipment & Parts
• Full Time Employees: 46
• Incorporated in 2008
• Headquartered in Fremont, California
• https://amprius.com

Life Time Group Holdings (LTH) : 1-year performance

 

Chobani withdraws plan for IPO

Chobani is withdrawing plans for an initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.

The food and beverage company filed in November to go public on the Nasdaq using the ticker “CHO.”

It’s been a rocky year for the stock market, leading to a drought of IPOs.

Reuters reported the yogurt maker was seeking a valuation of more than $10 billion.

 

About Chibani

From the purchase of their first plant in 2005 with a handful of employees, Chobani invented an entirely new food category in the United States—Greek yogurt—that completely disrupted an old one.

They were early to identify a once-in-a-generation mega-trend towards healthier eating preferences and leveraged their innovation and brand-building capabilities to create a portfolio of high-quality yogurt products that rapidly gained market share.

Chobani distributed these products into mass market channels—not just specialty stores—where nutritious packaged food typically had not been available and positioned our offerings with pricing that was attractive and accessible to all consumers.

Today the Chobani brand is synonymous with high-quality, delicious, healthy food and making a social and environmental impact, both of which resonate very strongly in the current marketplace.

They currently sell their products in single-serve, multi-serve, and/or multi-pack formats through approximately 95,000 retail locations in the United States.

Chobani also has an international presence through the operation of a manufacturing facility in Melbourne, Australia and participates in certain international export markets, such as Mexico and Canada.

Getty Images (GETY) began trading on the NYSE on Mon 25 July 22

Getty Images Holdings, Inc. operates as a visual content creator and marketplace in the United States and internationally.

• Sector(s): Communication Services
• Industry: Internet Content & Information
• Full Time Employees: 1,600 
• Founded in 1995 
• Based in Seattle, Washington.
• https://www.gettyimages.com

On July 25, it completed a SPAC deal with CC Neuberger Principal Holdings II and began trading under the ticker GETY.

Jennifer Leyden SVP and CFO of Getty Images.

Aug 15, 22

Getty Images was founded in 1995 and listed on the Nasdaq National Market in July 1996. But it went private when acquired by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman in 2008. It was then bought by the Getty family in 2018. The company’s key customers are ad and graphic design companies, print and online media, and corporate marketing, communications, and in-house design departments.

In Q2, Getty Images reported revenue of $233.3 million, an increase of 4.1% year over year. Editorial revenue reached $82.9 million, up 15% year over year and 19.8% on a currency-neutral basis. Getty Images has photographers covering events all over the world, and you’ve probably seen their work in the news. I asked Leyden, CFO since January, but with the company since 2016 in various financial leadership roles, how the company deals with the risk of dispatching photographers covering the war in Ukraine, for example. 

The tech space

Getty Images’ library of owned content, includes “an archive with about 135 million images dating back to the beginning of photography,” which will be an asset when it comes to Web3.0 and NFT (non-fungible tokens), Leyden says. NFTs can be used to represent photos on the blockchain.

The company has formed a multi-year partnership with Candy Digital, a digital collectible company, to become the exclusive developer and marketplace for Getty Images NFTs. “We’ll start with some of our own content, and basically sell [that] content as NFTs with Candy Digital being marketplace,” Leyden says. I asked Getty Images if they will split revenue from image sales with Candy Digital, but was told: “the terms of the deal are not something we can disclose.”

Mobile Global Esports (MGAM) began trading on the Nasdaq on Fri 29 July 22

Mobile Global Esports, which is developing an esports platform for university competitions in India and South Asia, raised $6 million by offering 1.5 million shares at $4, the low end of the revised $4 to $5 range. It previously filed to offer 1.0 million shares at a range of $6.00 to $6.75 in May.

• Sector(s): Communication Services
• Industry: Electronic Gaming & Multimedia
• Full Time Employees: 25
• Headquartered in San Clemente, CA, with an operating subsidiary in Mumbai, India
• https://www.mogoesports.com

IPOs this week : Aug 15 - 19, 2022 (wk 33)

IPOs expected to price

• GigaCloud Technology (GCT) and 
• Innovative Eyewear (NASDAQ:LUCY) could price their IPOs this week and start trading. 

IPO lockup expirations

IPO lockup periods expire on 

• Sunshine Biopharma (SBFM) and Vivakor (NASDAQ:VIVK) on August 15, as well as Blue 
• Water Vaccines (BWV) on August 17.

Life Time Group Holdings (LTH) : 9-month performance

 

Bausch Health suspends plans for Solta IPO

Solta is a provider in medical aesthetics with skin rejuvenation and body contouring solutions, including the Thermage® RF systems, Fraxel® laser, Clear + Brilliant® laser and VASER® ultrasonic systems.

(Reuters) - Bausch Health Companies Inc (BHC) said on Thursday it was suspending plans for the initial public offering of its unit Solta Medical due to challenging market conditions.

It has been a gloomy year for U.S. capital markets, with IPO-bound Reddit Inc and Mobileye, the self-driving car unit of Intel Corp (INTC), facing challenges.

Bausch, previously known as Valeant Pharmaceuticals, said it would revisit alternative paths for medical aesthetics company Solta in future.

In August, Bausch announced plans to pursue an IPO of Solta in a bid to shed non-core assets and cut down debt. read more

The Canadian company's debt piled up due to aggressive deal-making under former Chief Executive Officer Mike Pearson.

The company's eye-care unit, Bausch + Lomb (BLCO), was recently listed in the United States and Canada.

SoFi Technologies (SOFI) began trading on the Nasdaq on Tue 1 June 21

SoFi Technologies is an online personal finance company and online bank. It provides financial products including student and auto loan refinancing, mortgages, personal loans, credit card, investing, and banking. 

• Sector(s): Financial Services
• Industry: Credit Services
• Full Time Employees: 2,500
• Founded in 2011 
• HQ in San Francisco, California
• https://www.sofi.com

SoFi attracted funding from investors such as Peter Thiel, private equity firm Silver Lake and SoftBank, according to PitchBook.

Went public in a $8.65 billion deal with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings V, the latest blank-check company from venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.

Other Chamath SPACs: Opendoor Technologies (OPEN), Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE), Clover Health Investments (CLOV)

On the first day of trading the stock closed up more than 12% to $22.65.

 

 

 

 Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi

Vaxxinity (VAXX) : 6-month performance

 

Grindr to go public in $2.1 bln SPAC deal

(Reuters) - Gay dating app Grindr said on Monday it would go public through a merger with a blank-check acquisition firm - a deal that values it at $2.1 billion and features Tiga Investments CEO Raymond Zage on both sides of the transaction.

Grindr said its existing shareholders would own 78% of the company after the merger, which comes two years after China's Kunlun Tech Co (300418.SZ) divested it for $620 million due to U.S. national security concerns.

While Grindr did not disclose the identities of its existing shareholders, Reuters previously reported that Zage had a 41% stake in the consortium that acquired Grindr. A source familiar with the matter said on Monday that Zage continues to be an investor in Grindr.

Tiga Acquisition Corp (TINV.N), the Singapore-based special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that will merge with Grindr, is controlled by Zage.

Under the deal, Grindr will receive $284 million in cash from Tiga and up to $100 million in a forward purchase agreement.

Grindr and Tiga expect that their deal may require clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) which scrutinizes deals for potential national security risks, according to a copy of their merger agreement that was made public on Monday.

CFIUS ordered Kunlun to sell Grindr in 2019 over concerns that the personal data of U.S. users could be accessed or exploited by China's government.

It could not be learned if CFIUS had a role in Grindr's decision to explore a sale and merger with a SPAC. A spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury Department, that chairs CFIUS, did not respond to a request for comment.

Miami International Holdings confidentially files for U.S. IPO

(Reuters) – Miami International Holdings Inc, which owns the options exchange Miami International Securities Exchange (MIAX), said on Friday it has confidentially submitted paperwork with regulators for a U.S. initial public offering.

• https://www.miaxoptions.com/
• MIAX Options, MIAX PEARL and MIAX Emerald are fully electronic options trading exchanges and wholly-owned subsidiaries of Miami International Holdings, Inc. (MIH) that comprise the MIAX Exchange Group.  
• On February 21, 2019 MIAX Options launched options on the SPIKES™ Volatility Index. SPIKES™ is a measure of the expected 30-day volatility in the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF (SPY), the most actively-traded exchange traded fund in the world. SPIKES™ was developed by T3 Index (T3), a research-driven indexing firm that develops proprietary indexes as part of a partnership with MIH.
• Founded in 2017

The Princeton, New Jersey-based exchange operator did not share any other details related to the terms of the offering and chose to keep its finances hidden from competition by confidentially filing initial paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Miami International owns three options exchanges including the MIAX Pearl. It also runs the Bermuda Stock Exchange and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, among others.

The company launched stock trading on the MIAX Pearl in September 2020, looking to grab market share from the likes of its listed peers such as Nasdaq Inc, Intercontinental Exchange Inc owned New York Stock Exchange, Cboe Global Markets and others.

Miami International launched options trading on the MIAX, its first exchange, in December 2012, using management expertise and relationships in the equity options space. It now lists and trades options on over 3,900 multi-listed classes, its website said.

The MIAX Exchange Group’s executive offices and National Operations Center are located in Princeton, NJ, with a Miami Operations Center, Annual Meeting and Conference Center, and offices for MIAX Technologies and MIAX Global, two other MIH subsidiaries, located in Miami, FL.

Bausch + Lomb (BLCO) began trading on the NYSE on Fri 6 May 22

 Bausch + Lomb is an eye health products company based in Laval, Quebec, Canada. It is one of the world's largest suppliers of contact lenses, lens care products, pharmaceuticals, intraocular lenses, and other eye surgery products.

Bausch + Lomb, the first of two businesses being spun out by Bausch Health Cos., was seen as a test of whether a stable, profitable business could help break the ice for dozens of companies waiting in the wings to go public.

Shares of the contact lens and eye-care company opened trading Friday at $18.50, after selling for $18 in the IPO. They closed at $20 in New York trading, giving the company a market value of $7 billion.

Bausch Health will get the proceeds from the IPO as the selling shareholder, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Bausch Health had aimed to raise as much as $840 million at the top of the $21 to $24 price range.

CEO Moves

With the spinoff, Joseph Papa has moved from chief executive officer of Bausch Health to CEO and chairman of Bausch + Lomb. Thomas Appio has been appointed to replace him as the top executive at Bausch Health, according to a statement. Papa will remain chairman of Bausch Health.

In an effort to raise money to pay off tens of billions in debt on its books from that era, Bausch Health is also planning to spin off its Solta Medical skin-care unit. Bausch Health, which is keeping its core pharmaceutical operations, had about $23 billion in total debt as of Dec. 31.

Solta Spinoff

Solta submitted its IPO filing to the SEC in February but hasn’t moved ahead with proposed terms for its share sale. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Solta had net income of $72.8 million on revenue of $219 million, according to its filing.

Bausch + Lomb, based in Vaughan, Ontario, reported $65 million in net income on $3.8 billion in revenue on a pro forma basis in 2021. In addition to contact lenses and solutions under brands including Ocuvite, PureVision and Biotrue, the company also makes ophthalmic pharmaceuticals for ailments such as glaucoma, as well as surgical tools and devices.

Bausch + Lomb’s offering is topped in the U.S. this year only by private equity firm TPG Inc.’s $1.1 billion listing in January, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Udemy (UDMY) : 6-month performance

 

Zymeworks (ZYME) : 5-year performance

Zymeworks Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes biotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer.

• Sector(s): Healthcare
• Industry: Biotechnology
• Full Time Employees: 455
• incorporated in 2003 
• HQ: Vancouver, Canada.
• https://www.zymeworks.com

First day of trading Friday April 28, 2017

Vancouver, British Columbia-based biotherapeutics provider Zymeworks Inc has raised $58.5 million for its IPO after pricing its 4.5 million shares at $13 per share. The stock began trading April 28, 2017 on the New York Stock Exchange and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ZYME";

Citigroup Global Markets Canada Inc., Barclays Capital Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC are the lead underwriters. Zymeworks'  pre-IPO backers include BDC Capital, Lumira Capital, CTI Life Sciences Fund, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Perceptive Advisors, Teralys Capital, Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, Brace Pharma Capital and Merlin Nexus.

Postal Realty Trust (PSTL) : 3-year performance

Ticker: PSTL

 

Evoke Pharma (EVOK) : New FDA Market Exclusivity For Gimoti Nasal Spray

  

 

The FDA has granted new drug product exclusivity to Evoke Pharma Inc's (NASDAQ: EVOK) Gimoti (metoclopramide) nasal spray to relieve symptoms associated with acute and recurrent diabetic gastroparesis in adults.

Evoke now has exclusive marketing rights over three (3) years from the original date of approval under the Hatch-Waxman Act to protect the product from generic drug competition.

In addition to the market exclusivity, Evoke maintains a robust patent estate, with currently two Orange book-listed patents that expire in 2029 and 2030.

The Company has also been granted gender-specific patents in the EU, Japan, and Mexico until 2032.

Furthermore, if approved, Evoke has other pending patent applications with individual expiration dates of 2032, 2037, and 2038.

IPOs this week : Apr 18 - 22, 2022 (wk 16)

IPOs expected to price

No new IPOs are expected to debut this week. 

IPO quiet period expirations

• AN2 Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ANTX) on April 19 

IPO lockup expirations

• Watch Stronghold Digital (SDIG), 
• Context Therapeutics (CNTX), 
• Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO), P10 (PX), Vita Coco (COCO), Ventyx Bio (VTYX), Aris Water Solutions (ARIS), Xilio (XLO), Minerva Surgical (UTRS) and Infobird (IFBD) with insiders able to unload some shares.

Portillo's (PTLO): 6-month performance

 

PROCEPT BioRobotics (PRCT): 7-month performance

 

TPG Inc. (TPG) began trading on the Nasdaq on Thur 13 Jan 22

• Holding some $109 billion in assets, Texas- and San Francisco-based TPG becomes the fifth-largest publicly traded private equity firm in the U.S. by assets, again behind Blackstone ($619 billion), Apollo ($481 billion), Carlyle ($256 billion) and KKR ($252 billion).
• Founded in 1992, TPG in November announced plans to go public and owns outsize stakes in talent agency CAA, Vice Media and Spotify. Its long-awaited debut breathes new life into private equity public listings amid a massive boom in buyout deals.

Sector(s): Financial Services

Industry: Asset Management

Full Time Employees: 1,850

https://www.tpg.com

 

Ares Management (ARES) : 8-year performance

• May 2, 2014: Ares Management shares fell to close at $18.17, a decline of 4.4 percent from the IPO price. Ares cut the size of the offering to 11.4 million units from 18.2 million units, and the IPO priced below the estimated range of $21 to $23. The deal generated proceeds of $217 million and gave Ares a market cap of about $4 billion, or about 4.7x its 2013 net income of $850 million.
• https://www.aresmgmt.com/

 

MiNK Therapeutics (INKT) began trading on the Nasdaq on Fri 15 Oct 21

MiNK Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:INKT) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to develop and commercialize off-the-shelf, allogeneic, invariant natural killer T (‘iNKT) cell therapies to treat cancer and other immune-mediated diseases. 

• Sector(s): Healthcare
• Industry: Biotechnology
• Full Time Employees: 33
• HQ: New York, New York
• https://minktherapeutics.com

MiNK Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of allogeneic, off-the-shelf, invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell therapies to treat cancer and other immune-mediated diseases. Its product candidate includes AGENT-797, an off-the-shelf, allogeneic for iNKT cell therapy and treatment of various myeloma diseases which is in Phase 1 clinical trials. The company was formerly known as AgenTus Therapeutics, Inc. MiNK Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is based in New York, New York.

Technology

iNKT cells are a distinct type of T cells, which in response to lipid antigenic stimulation, rapidly produce within minutes, large amounts of cytokines that can influence other immune cells. These are important immunoregulatory cells though comprising less than 1% of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (‘PBMCs) in the human blood pool. With their durable memory responses and rapid cytolytic features, iNKT cells have been shown to improve microbial and tumor immunity, while suppressing autoimmune disease and promoting tolerance. iNKT cell-derived cytokines and chemokines can modulate several other cell types, including NK cells, conventional CD4+ and CD