logo-loader

IPO Roundup: Slack's direct listing shakes up busy day of IPOs

Last updated: 03:00 20 Jun 2019 EDT, First published: 12:26 20 Jun 2019 EDT

Lit match burning post-it note that reads 'IPO'

A slew of companies went public Thursday, led by Slack Technologies Inc (NYSE:WORK), which eschewed the traditional IPO model in favor of a direct listing.

Slack, the corporate instant messaging service, essentially took its existing shares directly to the market as opposed to raising capital by offering new shares. The San Francisco company priced its shares at $26, and investors eagerly took the baton, opening trading at $38.50.

The stock has only risen since, climbing another 9% to $41.95.

READ: IPO Roundup: Stoke Therapeutics stock vaults up after public debut

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp (NASDAQ:GO), the discount supermarket chain, raised $378 million, pricing its 17.2 million shares at $22. That easily outpaced its estimated range between $18 and $19. The Emeryville, California-based chain offers a “treasure hunt shopping experience” of name-brand products at lower prices than mainstream retailers.

The company opened at $31.10 before receding to $28.18, 28% above its IPO price.

Personalis Inc (NASDAQ:PSNL) brought in $135 million after offering 7.9 million shares at $17, $1 above the top end of its range. The Menlo Park, California cancer genomics company built its ImmunoID NeXT Platform to offer drug development companies a multidimensional view of a tumor and more thorough analysis of its microenvironment.

Shares debuted at $24.99 and rose to $25.69, more than 50% higher than its IPO price.

Atreca Inc (NASDAQ:BCEL) raised $125 million after offering 7.4 million shares at $17, the midpoint of its expected range. The immunotherapeutics company’s lead drug candidate, ATRC-101, is a monoclonal antibody, which makes use of the body’s own antibodies to fight cancer.

The Redwood City, California company opened at $19.46 but quickly reversed course, dropping to $16.60.

Prevail Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PRVL), a gene-therapy company, raked in $125 million by offering 7.4 million shares at $17, the midpoint of its range. The New York based company is developing a program, PR001, to treat GBA-PD, a type of Parkinson’s Disease, and neuronopathic Gaucher disease, a rare metabolic disorder.

The stock debuted at $15.31 before slipping to $14.32.

Akero Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AKRO) raises $92 million by offering 5.8 million shares at $16 per share, the high end of its expected range. The San Francisco clinical-stage biotechnology company is focused on developing treatments for metabolic diseases. Its leading drug candidate, AKR-001, fights nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, inflammation caused by a buildup of fat in the liver.

Trading began at $16.44 and edged up to $18.50.

Postponed

Dermavant Sciences (NASDAQ:DRMT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, postponed its planned $100 million IPO, according to a report from Renaissance Capital. The Phoenix-based company had planned to offer 7.7 million shares between $12 and $14. Dermavent has developed a dermatology pipeline to treat eczema, psoriasis and acne, among other conditions.

—Updated to include Prevail Therapeutics and Dermavant Sciences—

Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel

Ramp Metals Launches Drilling Program in Pursuit of High-Grade Nickel in...

Ramp Metals CEO Jordan Black joined Steve Darling from Proactive to introduce the company to the public domain and share exciting developments in the mining industry. With a background as a geotechnical engineer and experience in venture capital, including a notable role in taking GoldSpot...

48 minutes ago