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IPOs miss range, despite market gains |
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NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Reuters) - A pair of initial public offerings missed pricing targets on Wednesday, despite broader market gains and a recent string of successful floats. |
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After a summer filled with IPO delays, a trio of technology companies enjoyed successful debuts last week and on Monday, China-based Mindray Medical International Ltd. (MR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) saw its shares soar 31 percents on its first day. |
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However, both ICF International Inc. and CBRE Realty Finance, Inc. priced below range Wednesday, while the Dow industrials inched closer to a record high. |
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"In the IPO market, there is no fluff," said Francis Gaskins, an independent IPO analyst and president of IPO Desktop. "It's back to basics. People are not buying futures very far out." |
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In addition to a lack of top-line revenue growth, both ICF International and CBRE Realty had difficult stories to sell to investors, Gaskins said. |
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Riverbed Technology Inc. (RVBD.O: Quote, Profile, Research), DivX Inc. (DIVX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and CommVault Systems Inc. (CVLT.O: Quote, Profile, Research), which debuted successfully last week, each had products and brand names to sell to investors, Gaskins said. |
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"You can't leverage branding if you don't have any," Gaskins said. |
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ICF International, which provides management, technology and policy consulting to the U.S. government and other clients, sold for $12 per share, compared with a $14 to $16 forecast range. |
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The company raised $56 million with the almost 4.7 million share offering, which represents a 36 percent stake in the company. However, if shares priced at the midpoint, the IPO would have been worth about $70 million. |
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The pricing gives the Fairfax, Virginia-based company, which has applied for a Nasdaq listing under the symbol "ICFI" (ICFI.O: Quote, Profile, Research), an initial market capitalization of about $155 million. |
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CBRE Realty, a commercial real estate specialty finance company, reduced its offering size to 9.6 million shares from 10 million and sold for $14.50 per share, compared with a $15 to $17 forecast range. |
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The company filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Sept. 8 to offer 12.5 million shares in the IPO only to file additional documents four days later to reduce the offering to 10 million shares. |
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The pricing gives the Hartford, Connecticut-based company an initial market capitalization of about $423 million. |
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The company intends to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CBF" (CBF.N: Quote, Profile, Research). |
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