Building Blocks

Analysts interviewed by IPO Monitor anticipate a more active second quarter, considering the rapid amount of filings that occurred in the latter portion of the first quarter. At this point, our detailed offering calendar projects a rather solid start to the next three months of 2002. For example, 13 entities are tentatively listed to price respective offerings during April, totaling $1.5 billion.

Of particular interest to investors is the beginning of a string of IPOs that surrounds the airline sector. First up: JetBlue Airways (ticker: JBLU), the New York-based discount air carrier backed by investment financier George Soros. Other airline offerings are in the pipeline and analysts feel that a strong takeoff by JetBlue, not to mention an improving economy, will accelerate other transactions currently in registration. Morgan Stanley has been named lead manager for the 5.5 million-share deal. Talk on the offering is set at $22 to $24.

Energy offerings will continue to debut throughout the quarter as A.G. Edwards and Lehman Brothers have a couple of concerns penciled in for the upcoming weeks.

As noted earlier, MarkWest Energy Partners, a limited partnership focused on the energy sector, is set to debut during April and is quite similar to the float seen in the first quarter from Sunoco Logistics.

With respect to Lehman Brothers, it has another limited partnership in registration – Dynegy Energy Partners (ticker: DEP). The attraction to limited partnership offerings continues to be the attractive quarterly payout affixed to the transaction.

Software initial public offerings are rare in this every changing market environment. However, when stocks from that sector debut, they generally turn in respectable results. One company looking to take Wall Street by storm happens to be Plumtree Software (ticker: PLUM). In registration for quite a while because of the uneasiness on Wall Street, Plumtree remapped its offering by changing some of its underwriters. Out: Credit Suisse First Boston and Robertson Stephens In: Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. Remaining on the deal is RBC Capital Markets.

Now, with the economy in recovery mode, sources close to the transaction tell IPO Monitor that the Plumtree deal has been penciled in for April business. Plumtree, based in San Francisco, is looking to raise $70 million by selling five million shares at talk of $13 to $15. Investors in Plumtree include Red Rock Ventures, the investment arm of Ernst & Young and Sequoia Capital.

The bottom line: IPOs will debut. Not by old standards. More records will definitely be broken. Perhaps not in the number of transactions, nor the amount raised by investment bankers. One record worth achieving this year is building upon our success in the aftermarket. Here's to a profitable and successful quarter!


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