|
Utah-based Amedica puts off IPO plans - for now |
|
By Steven Oberbeck, The Salt Lake Tribune |
|
Just when it started to look like Utah would enjoy a banner year in the number of its corporations that intended to sell shares to the public for the first time, one of the companies has decided to back away from its plans. |
|
Amedica Corp. a Salt Lake City-based company that is developing orthopedic implants, was one of three Utah companies that earlier this year filed registration statements for initial public offerings of their shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
|
But the recent volatility in the stock market led Amedica to reconsider the timing of its offering, said Ashok C. Khandkar, the company's chief executive officer. |
|
"Given current market conditions, we do not believe it is a suitable time to continue with our IPO," Khandkar said. "When markets go down as they have, emotions often take over and you don't always get investors looking at the underlying fundamentals of a company." |
|
Khandkar said fortunately Amedica has sufficient capital to continue its development plans without proceeding with its IPO. |
|
Those plans including the "build-out" of the company's manufacturing facility in preparation for the market introduction of its lead spinal products next year. |
|
"We'll consider an IPO again when we think the time is right," he said. |
|
Amedica's withdrawal leaves EnergySolutions Inc., a nuclear waste management company, and ZARS Inc., a company that is developing topically administered drugs for pain management, as the only Utah companies that continue to have registration statements pending with the SEC to launch IPOs. |
|
Nationally known IPO analyst Francis Gaskins of IPOdesktop.com said the market for IPOs tightened a little this week but it is holding up well. |
|
"Amedica's problem is that it was the smallest IPO scheduled this week and they didn't have any revenue," he said. "Right now investors are favoring bigger companies that are the leaders in their markets." |
|
He noted the IPO calendar remains busy with a number of issues expected to be priced next week. |
|
Still, David Menlow, president of IPOFinancial.com, noted that if investors remain worried about their portfolios they probably won't be pursing IPOs aggressively. |
|
"This isn't a market where people are being generous with their attention," Menlow said. |
|
"So if you have a company that may have problems with its financials, or if a deal looks like it might be in trouble, a pull back may not be a bad idea," he said. |