Small Businesses Looking To Alternatives To IPOs For Funding
November 11 2009 - 9:01PM
Dow Jones News
The still-shaky market for IPOs may prompt smaller U.S.
companies to remain private, opting to raise capital from private
equity funds and other types of investors rather than the
public.
While the IPO market has picked up from a dismal 2008, shares of
many newly-minted public companies haven't performed well. Some
have slipped below their initial offering price, a dynamic that
discourages other companies considering public offerings from
listing their shares.
The unstable market for IPOs could drive smaller firms boasting
revenue, profits and growth to shy away from the stock market.
Instead, those companies may look to raise capital from private
equity firms, according to participants of a
mergers-and-acquisitions panel at the Ernst & Young Strategic
Growth Forum in Palm Springs on Wednesday.
"There are about 5,000 companies that have the ability to go
public, but many of them won't head for the gates," said James
Montgomery, chief executive of private equity firm Montgomery Group
LLC. "These smaller deals have been supplanted by private equity
and growth stage capital."
For example, MobiTV Inc., an Emeryville, Calif.-based company
that makes technology to send television to mobile devices, is no
longer pursuing an IPO, according to a person close to the company.
Rather, it's looking for alternative funding, including private
equity, to finance its expansion into Europe.
The continued weakness of the IPO market comes amid a pickup in
private equity deals as the availability of credit slowly improves.
While few observers see private equity deals reaching the roaring
levels they did earlier this decade, a host of recent transactions
underscore improvement in the market.
Earlier this month, private equity firms General Atlantic LLC
and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. agreed to buy Northrop
Grumman Corp.'s (NOC) TASC consulting unit for $1.65 billion. The
buyers were able to raise about half the purchase price in
debt.
The growing availability of credit has also prompted some
smaller companies that are generating revenue to look to
debt--rather than equity--when they consider their funding options,
said Richard Casey, CEO of Square 1 Bank. That marks a turnaround
from a year or so ago, when credit markets were closed.
"It's a great time to use debt," Casey said. "It's interesting
how the market is moving in this direction."
While the IPO market--traditionally the place where many smaller
companies look to raise capital and establish their
credibility--has picked up, many issues struggle once they've been
launched. That discourages both the issuing companies--many of
which pay their employees with shares--and investors, who see the
value of their purchases fade.
Last week, Chinese printing equipment maker Duoyuan Printing
Inc. (DYP) closed below its IPO price of $8.50, while produce giant
Dole Food Co. (DOLE) and railroad operator RailAmerica Inc. (RA)
also fell from their initial offering prices.
The failure of much of the recent crop of IPOs to maintain their
value is affecting the decision of other companies that might
consider going public, officials from stock exchanges say.
"When we have deals that break issue [price] and don't perform
well, it affects your mentality," said Scott Cutler, executive vice
president of global listings for NYSE Euronext. "The ability to tap
capital markets, for a lot of growth-stage companies, still is a
lot more limited than it was."
-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230;
ben.charny@dowjones.com
(Lynn Cowan contributed to this report.)
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