Will Investors ‘Like’ Renren IPO?
After a week of hot new stocks, including one for Chinese data-center services provider 21Vianet Group Inc., investors are starting to look to May’s calendar, where buzz is already starting to build about another Chinese company. Renren Inc., which wants to raise $584 million on the New York Stock Exchange, is one of the largest social networking websites in an increasingly competitive Chinese market as measured by monthly unique visitors, although it has less than one-fifth the number of activated users as Facebook (which isn’t allowed in China). The stock is expected to begin trading on May 4, meaning that meetings with potential investors are taking place this week. Shares are being offered between $9 and $11 apiece.
No debuts of initial public offerings are expected during the week, as the combination of Passover and Easter holidays last week, along with accompanying school breaks in various U.S. cities, meant a lot of investors were off as well. “The only thing that’s getting in the way of the IPO market is religion,” joked John Fitzgibbon, president of research firm IPOScoop.com. “That put the brakes on road shows.”
In addition to Renren, which intends to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RENN, San Francisco-based patent risk manager RPX Corp. is seeking to raise $131 million and trade on the Nasdaq as RPXC. Shares are being offered between $16 and $18, and trading is expected to begin May 4. Both offerings will be coming after last week’s strong showing for IPOs. Four of the five deals that were launched priced at the high end or above their expected ranges, and went on to make double-digit percentage gains on their first days of trading. Among them was 21Vianet Group, which twice increased its issue size and priced its shares above an already-increased price range, and software firm Responsys Inc.