The IPO market is beginning to expand as more companies from different industries throw their hats into the ring to go public in 2020.
“There is a strong portfolio of companies in … a broader group of sectors that will go on the market,” John Tuttle, vice president and chief business officer of the New York Stock Exchange, told Yahoo Finance’s The First Trade.
On Friday, grocery giant Albertsons will go public on the NYSE with the symbol “ACI.” Albertsons, which includes chain names like Vons, Safeway, and Acme, debuts when demand for grocery products in the US is high, as consumers cook more at home during the pandemic.
Albertsons store in Ridgecrest, California. It is an American supermarket company with 2,205 locations, owned by Cerberus Capital Management.
Starting the IPO market
So far, companies have been warmly welcomed when they entered public markets this year, after a strong rally in equities from the market crash in March.
“We began to see that the IPO market was actually returning in late April when SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies, hit the market. For those, it’s fairly simple for investors to value them. They have a horizon of two years or so to go out and make an acquisition. That is what really fueled the IPO market, ”said Tuttle.
He continued: “We saw that healthcare companies and other sectors also began to come onto the market. And now we have a solid portfolio of companies that will hit the market from now until the end of the summer. ”
Investors will see the debut of Dun & Bradstreet, a business data analytics provider, among companies expected to go public as soon as next week. The company plans to offer about 65.8 million shares at a price of $ 19 to $ 21 each.
Lemonade, a Softbank-backed platform for renters and homeowners insurance, is also expected to go public by offering 11 million shares at a range of $ 23-26 per share.
Tuttle says publicly-traded companies will likely avoid the downturn due to the possibility of volatility around the U.S. presidential election.
“Part of going public, whether through an IPO, a direct list, or a combination of SPAC, or in any other way, is that you want to eliminate risk as much as possible, and that’s market risk, it’s risk of prices, but it is also political risk and uncertainty. Therefore, we have a solid portfolio of companies until the end of the year. Obviously they are going to advance, either ahead or behind that electoral period, “added Tuttle.
