If you were alarmed by last week’s shutout in the IPO column, don’t worry — Wall Street is still putting deal together.
In fact, six offerings are planned for the next five days.
However, something you should worry about is how these IPOs might do; many of them (specifically the smaller operators) could face rough waters, especially if the markets continue to be volatile.
Let’s take a look at each of these deals for the upcoming week.
BioAmber
BioAmber (NYSE:BIOA) calls itself a “next-generation chemicals” company.
It uses a combination of industrial biotechnology and chemical catalysis to convert feedstocks into products like bio-succinic acid. To pull this off, BioAmber operates one of the world’s largest bio-based chemical manufacturing facilities (located in Pomacle, France), which produced 356,900 pounds of its chemical products last year.
However, BioAmber is in the development stage, tallying only $2.3 million in revenues last year (up from $560,000 in 2011). Losses have expectedly been significant, coming to $39.5 million last year after being $30.6 million in the read in 2011.
BioAmber plans to issue 8 million shares at a range of $15 to $17. Lead underwriters include Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), Societe Generale (PINK:SCGLY) and Barclays (NYSE:BCS).
GW Pharmaceuticals
GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:GWPH) is a biopharmaceutical company that uses plant-derived cannabinoid products to create prescription drugs. Its flagship offering is Sativex, which treats multiple sclerosis.
But GW’s technology appears to have wide applications. For example, the company has drug in Phase 3 trials for a cancer pain treatment that could hit the market by 2014 (and if so, is expected to be a strong driver).
In the meantime, GW has had decent momentum with its financials. Last year, revenues increased about 12% to $53 million, though profits fell 9% to $4 million.
The company plans to offer 3.5 million shares. The price of the deal will be based on the current quote on the London AIM market, where GW is already trading. Lead underwriters include Lazard Capital Markets (NYSE:LAZ) and Cowen & Co.
ING U.S.
ING U.S. (NYSE:VOYA) is a spinoff of the US-based insurance unit from ING Groep (NYSE:ING), which is based in Amsterdam. When the deal hits the market, the company will be renamed Voya Financial, and rebranding will not be cheap — the process is expected to last about two years and cost anywhere from $40 million to $50 million.
Voya is a large player in the insurance business, with about 13 million customers and $461 billion in assets. But its performance has been lackluster, with decent returns hard to come by amid extremely low interest rates. In 2012, the company posted EBITDA of $918.3 million, down from $1.1 billion.
The company plans to issue 64.2 million shares at a range of $21 to $24. Underwriters are numerous, and include Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Citi (NYSE:C), BofA Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC), Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM).
QIWI
QIWI (NASDAQ:QIWI) is a top player in the payments space in Russia and Kazakhstan. The network includes more than 11 million virtual wallets and over 40,000 merchants. A key part of the distribution strategy involves more than 169,000 kiosks and terminals, which are operated by third parties. This has turned out to be a substantial barrier to entry.
From 2011 to 2012, revenues spiked by 43% to 8.9 billion rubles ($293 million) and EBITDA surged by 81% to 1.5 billion rubles ($48 million).
The company plans to issue 12 million shares at a range of $16 to $18. Lead underwriters include JPMorgan and Credit Suisse.
Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT
Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT (NYSE:EARN) invests in residential mortgages, with a focus on agency RMBS vehicles.
EARN has strong backing. Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) is a top investment management firm that has been around for 14 years. And EARN also has the financial backing of the Blackstone Group (NYSE:BX).
So far, the company is pre-revenue. But after the IPO, there will be substantial resources to quickly build a portfolio.
The company plans to issue 6.5 million shares at $20 each. Lead underwriters include Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Citi and UBS (NYSE:UBS).
Insys Therapeutics
Insys Therapeutics (NASDAQ:INSY) is a specialty pharma company that has two drugs on the market — Subsys (transmucosal immediate-release fentanyl) and Dronabinol SG Capsule (treatment for cancer pain). The company has other drugs in development, including Dronabinol Oral Solution, which helps with dosing.
Insys started generating revenues in 2012, which came to $15.5 million, but it still suffered a $22.3 million loss — but then again, the company has been investing heavily in its infrastructure to roll out its products.
Insys plans to issue 4 million shares at a range of $16 to $18. Lead underwriters include Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and JMP Securities.
Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook. He is also the author of High-Profit IPO Strategies, All About Commodities, and All About Short Selling. Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
