Fenwick & West securities co-chair Robert Freedman was featured in a Law360 story about a February lull in IPOs, which was offset by already-public companies reaping more than $5 billion in follow-on offerings.
Whether the slower IPO pace was a sign of investor fatigue or investors becoming increasingly selective regarding new issuers is hard to say, Freedman told Law360. Freedman added that yet another factor might be companies waiting until after they completed audits of their 2014 financials.
“It’s hard to compare to last year, since last year was such an incredible year. It’s not that things aren’t looking good, it’s just not as robust as last year," Freedman said. "Some of that might be selectivity, and some of that might be companies waiting for audited year end financials, since we are in February.”
Still, at least a dozen already-publicly listed companies ranging from life sciences to technology to retail spaces, drew several billion dollars in capital on follow-on offerings.
“For companies that are already public, it's a much quicker process to raise funds," Freedman said. "They see the markets are still pretty high and clearly there is still demand."
The full article is available through the Law360 website (subscription required).