U.S. IPO Market Looks Overseas
Swisscom, then iXos Wall Street again looks across ocean Struggling IPO market gets follow-up European boost
- For the second time this week, the ailing U.S. IPO market looks across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe for a boost, as Germany's iXos Software prepares to make its Wall Street debut.
iXos Software, whose document archiving program is used by more than 550 organizations that employ SAP's R/3 enterprise management system, priced its 605,000-share initial public offering at about $103, within the expected range listed by lead underwriter Goldman Sachs.
The shares are to start trading Wednesday on Germany's Neuer Markt and on Nasdaq, where they will be listed as American depository receipts under the ticker "IXOS." The American shares, which will represent one-fifth of a regular share, were priced at $20.75 each.
SAP (SAP) will own about an 8.4 percent stake in iXos after the completion of the deal. Goldman Sachs investment groups will own another 15 percent. If completed, iXos will be Goldman's first IPO since the investment bank decided to cancel its own debut due to turbulent market conditions.
On Monday, Switzerland's national telco, Swisscom (SCM), raised $5.5 billion in a well-received offering. After notching a 9 percent premium on its Wall Street debut, Swisscom's stock was up another 5.4 percent in afternoon trading Tuesday. The American depository shares, each representing one-tenth of a regular share, jumped to 29, up from their $25.30 offering price.
The Swiss government still owns about 70 percent of the telecommunications company after the offering. It could have sold as much as 49 percent.
Swisscom is the latest in a series of government-owned telecommunications companies that have been partially privatized. Other recent examples: China Telecom (CHL), Portugal Telecom (PT) and France Telecom (FTE), which is up more than 92 percent this year.
On tap for next week is Telekomunikacja Polska, Poland's national telecommunications operation, which, according to the Warsaw Voice, is expected to go public on the Warsaw and London exchanges.
The $5.58 billion raised by Swisscom places it sixth on the list of the biggest IPOs ever, behind France Telecom, which raised about $6.6 billion last October, and well ahead of British Steel's (BST) $4.68 billion in 1988.
Darren Chervitz is a reporter for CBS MarketWatch.
By Darren Chervitz