Bausch Health suspends plans for Solta IPO

Solta is a provider in medical aesthetics with skin rejuvenation and body contouring solutions, including the Thermage® RF systems, Fraxel® laser, Clear + Brilliant® laser and VASER® ultrasonic systems.

(Reuters) - Bausch Health Companies Inc (BHC) said on Thursday it was suspending plans for the initial public offering of its unit Solta Medical due to challenging market conditions.

It has been a gloomy year for U.S. capital markets, with IPO-bound Reddit Inc and Mobileye, the self-driving car unit of Intel Corp (INTC), facing challenges.

Bausch, previously known as Valeant Pharmaceuticals, said it would revisit alternative paths for medical aesthetics company Solta in future.

In August, Bausch announced plans to pursue an IPO of Solta in a bid to shed non-core assets and cut down debt. read more

The Canadian company's debt piled up due to aggressive deal-making under former Chief Executive Officer Mike Pearson.

The company's eye-care unit, Bausch + Lomb (BLCO), was recently listed in the United States and Canada.

The Fortegra Group Inc. withdraws plans for IPO

The Fortegra Group Inc. withdrew plans for an initial public offering April 29, the day the Jacksonville-based specialty insurance company was expected to begin trading.

Fortegra sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission saying “it has determined not to pursue the initial public offering.”

Its parent company, Tiptree Inc., said in a separate SEC filing April 29 that “due to prevailing market conditions and the high value Tiptree Inc. places on The Fortegra Group and its growth prospects, Tiptree has decided to withdraw the registration statement.”

Tiptree said in a news release in March it was launching the IPO because Fortegra’s value was not properly reflected in Tiptree’s stock price and the IPO could unlock that value.

Tiptree, which acquired Fortegra in 2014, would have retained 82.7% of Fortegra’s stock after the IPO, according to an updated registration statement last week.

That statement said Fortegra intended to sell 8.3 million shares at $15 to $17 each and would get net proceeds of $119.5 million in the IPO.

Tiptree said in an SEC filing last week that Fortegra’s adjusted earnings rose 46% in the first quarter to $12.8 million.

Fortegra is the main operating business for New York-based Tiptree.

IPOs cancelled in 2019

The IPO cancellations in part are seen as a reflection of a weakening global economy, and also cast doubt on the solidity of some disruptive businesses.  While Asian deals have also suffered from the political protests in Hong Kong.

Here is a list of the most notable companies across the world to have pulled the plug on their IPOs in 2019:

• The We Company (WE), owner of office-sharing startup WeWork, scrapped its IPO in September, as concerns around the sustainability of its business model led to a lackluster response from investors.

• Endeavor Group (EDR):  Endeavor Group Holdings, the U.S. entertainment and talent agency company backed by Hollywood power-broker Ari Emanuel, abandoned its IPO in September following weak stock market investor demand.
• Inhibrx (INBX) has withdrawn its IPO registration statement. It filed a preliminary prospectus four months ago. (Nov 2019)
• GFL Environmental (GFL):  Waste management company GFL Environmental said earlier in November that it would cancel its initial public offering, with no immediate plans to revisit the markets, after institutional investors pressed the Canadian firm to price its shares below the marketed range.

** Italian luxury yacht maker Ferretti decided to pull its initial stock offering in mid October, as it was not satisfied with the price offered by investors. The yachtmaker's chief executive officer later said it plans to bring on board a European private investor.

** Private equity giant KKR & Co and its partners pulled a planned A$1 billion ($690.70 million) offering for lender Latitude Financial last month, which had been set to be Australia's biggest listing of the year.

** KKR and TPG Capital also canceled the IPO of Southeast Asia online realty company PropertyGuru, which had expected to raise up to A$380.2 million.

** Bitmain Technologies, the world's largest designer of products for mining cryptocurrencies, let its application for a Hong Kong IPO of at least $3 billion lapse in March, amid fears of price volatility as well as high-profile hacks and infrastructure failures.

DERMAdoctor prepares for an IPO

Update Jan 2, 2019: DERMAdoctor LLC, a Kansas City-based skin care company, no longer is pursuing an IPO, CEO Dr. Jeff Kunin told the Kansas City Business Journal. 

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Kansas City, MO-based DERMAdoctor (DDOC) has filed a prospectus for an IPO of 1.875M shares at $7 - 9.

The company develops and markets skincare products under the DERMAdoctor brand. It says its philosophy is to mix science and technology to deliver non-irritating, effective and pleasing products aimed at overlooked and unfulfilled common skin conditions. All are fragrance- and dye-free.

Its current lineup of 30 offerings includes an antiperspirant for $22 and a Kakadu vitamin C product for $95. They are available in select retail outlets, online and through international distributors.

https://www.dermadoctor.com/

Trustwave cancels IPO

Security-software company Trustwave Holdings Inc. has withdrawn an IPO prospectus filed three years ago.
The company was ready to price the offering and sell shares to brokerages in August 2011 but postponed the deal because of a steep drop in the stock market amid the first crisis over the debt ceiling for the U.S. government.

“As an administrative matter, Trustwave has filed to withdraw its Form S-1 Registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission which was filed in 2011," the Chicago company said. “Trustwave continues to watch market conditions and is keeping its strategic options open.”

Even though its prospectus was in limbo, Trustwave wasn't. The company has made four acquisitions since then, getting further into the security-services business. More recently, it was pulled into the spotlight in connection with the security breach at Target Corp. Trustwave's primary business is certifying that merchants are compliant with data-security rules around credit card transactions.

Since Trustwave put its IPO on ice, Chicago has enjoyed a mini-boom in tech public offerings. In the past year, Textura Corp., Gogo Inc., CDW Corp., Paylocity Holding Corp. and GrubHub Inc. all have gone public.

DTLR Holding Inc. has canceled the company’s IPO

Hanover, MD-based DTLR Holding Inc. has canceled the company’s $75 million initial public offering on Friday, citing an unspecified “business development.”

DTLR has 97 stores, including this location in Baltimore's Gallery.

The owner of footware and apparel stores, formerly known as Downtown Locker Room,had filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 1, saying it had planned to go public. The company had not released a price for its stock, only saying that it would use money raised to redeem preferred shares, repay $51.1 million under a term loan facility and use the money for general corporate purposes.

DTLR has 97 stores and had sales of $181.4 million in the fiscal year ending in February. Its profit was $5.1 million.

Baird and Piper Jaffrey had been hired as lead underwriters for the stock offering.

DTLR’s filing came as the market for new stock offerings heated up. There have been 222 IPO filings so far in 2013, up from 140 in all of 2012, according to Renaissance Capital.

BrightSource shelves IPO, walks away from public markets

April 13--Solar thermal startup BrightSource Energy's abrupt decision Wednesday night to shelve its yearlong plans for an initial public stock offering came amid a challenging year for solar stocks and a turbulent year for clean energy technologies.

On the day it was expected to price its stock for a Thursday launch on Nasdaq, the Oakland-based company issued a press release shortly before 8 p.m. Pacific time saying it had decided not to pursue its IPO due to adverse market conditions. On Thursday, it withdrew its application on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission -- a firm sign that company has abandoned plans to raise money on the public markets.

While we received significant interest from potential investors, the continued market and economic volatility are not optimal conditions for an IPO, said CEO John Woolard in a statement. As a company, we've consistently made decisions in the best interest of our shareholders, employees and customers, and we will continue to do so. Fortunately, we're in a strong financial position and have the support of world-class investors and partners.

Rather than the photovoltaic solar panels visible on rooftops across California, BrightSource builds massive solar thermal power projects in desert locations. Along with competitors like Abengoa and SolarReserve, it is a leading player in what's known as Concentrating Solar Power or CSP. But CSP faces growing competition from photovoltaic solar

panels, which have drastically fallen in price, and CSP companies are racing to cut costs. The country is also awash in cheap natural gas, putting further pressure on renewable sources of energy.

Many analysts said Thursday that BrightSource now has two options: raise additional money from private investors or hope that they get acquired.

BrightSource was awarded a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, whose loan program came under fierce attack from House Republicans after Fremont-based Solyndra, which was awarded a $535 million loan guarantee, filed for bankruptcy last year.

The guarantee attracted private investors to BrightSource, including NRG Solar, which invested $300 million in the Ivanpah project. Google also invested $168 million in the project.