This week is one of celebration here in the States. Well, at least for the first part of the week. The United States celebrates it's independence this week. More specifically on Tuesday which means the stock markets will be closed. As is typical for the July 4th holiday, there are few, if any companies that think its smart to try and launch a new offering while everyone is celebrating. The only offering this week is a biotech company that was due to launch last week but decided to wait it out.
The focus last week, as predicted, was all on Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN). The company officially launched to the public at $10 which was at the low end of their revised pricing range. On the first day of trade the company closed right at their offering price after moving higher to $11. By the second day of trading the company had broken its IPO price, and is not down 6.6%. Investors have made it clear to the IPO markets that they are very interested in the growth story, but are unwilling to chase high valuations.
Akcea Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AKCA) will look to once again raise $125 million now that the focus has shifted off Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN). Akcea is the spin off company that came out of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IONS) which has wrapped up their Phase 3 trial for rare lipid diseases. The company is hoping that they can raise the money to target broader cardiovascular diseases. One of their partners (Novartis) has committed to investing $50 million at whatever the IPO price ends up being, but only if the public markets pony up $100 million or more. As of now the company will offer 9.6 million shares at a range of $12 -$14.