As July wraps up, new IPOs are on the way, presenting huge opportunities for shareholders. Three IPOs in particular are worthy of a closer look: Pinduoduo, Focus Financial Partners Inc., and AFG Holdings.
Pinduoduo (NASDAQ:PDD) is the largest of these IPOs. It will launch on July 23rd with an offer of a whopping $1.87 billion. The company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker PDD. At three years old, the China-based company is still very young. The shares will cost between $16.00 to $19.00 with a total of 85.6 million shares. Pinduoduo stockholders plan to purchase up to $250 million during the initial offering of the ADS (American Depository Shares) representing class A.
As of January, Pinduoduo had 55.9 million daily active users; competitor Alibaba's (NYSE: BABA) Taobao app had 172 million and JD (NASDAQ: JD) had 34.3 million daily active users. PDD is a Chinese e-commerce site that quickly became successful. Pinduoduo has a Facebook-like social network (NASDAQ: FB) combined with a Groupon-like (NASDAQ: GRPN) marketplace. The site gives customers deals on everyday items like fruit, clothes, and toilet paper, while its social network lets users recruit friends to buy at a discount. Pinduoduo lets users purchase products directly from the manufacturer, avoiding advertisement and acquisition costs, so that customers can knock up to 20% off the original market price. The social network also distinguishes Pinduoduo from rivals like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), turning shopping into a communal experience. While the size of the IPO is exciting, some are worried that Pinduoduo hasn't yet landed on a sustainable business model.
The second-largest upcoming IPO is Focus Financial Partner Inc. (NYSE: FOCS), a New York investment firm. The initial offer amount is set at $727.3 million, with a price range of $35 to $39 for 16.2 million shares. According to a form S-1 registration document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Focus will be listed on NASDAQ under the ticker FOCS. They will also be offering shareholders a 30-day option to an additional 2.4 billion shares under Class A.
The third-largest IPO, AFGlobal Holdings (NYSE: AFGL), actually launched on July 16, with 18.2 million shares. The initial price offering will be around between $15.00 to $18.00. AFG Holdings is a firm that designs and manufactures equipment for oil and gas markets worldwide. Located in Houston, Texas since 1996, it provides customers with a diverse range of oil and gas in their advanced products, parts, and aftermarket services. They plan to earn $376.74 million (69%) of their shares to have a market value of $1.3 billion and enterprise value of $1.2 billion. Along with their IPO, they are letting the Selling Stockholders offer 12.6 million shares with a 30-day option to buy shares up to an additional 2.73 million shares. The AFG Holdings is under the New York Stock exchange as AFGL. With their plan and with such a big amount of shares, they can use the expected value of $376.74 million to pay off their loans, as well as use the rest of their profits to help grow their company.