Luisa Beltran
It turns out that BBQing will be the sport of choice this holiday weekend.
Yesterday, we asked what everyone planned to do this Memorial Day. The last time we posited such a question (last summer), I was surprised to find that many people were working. This, of course, turned out to be a strong indicator for the rest of the year (deal flow in late 2010 was strong).
So we asked again and you answered. A strong majority, or 69.4%, said they will be taking out the grill and cookin' up some ribs or burgers or veggies in the great outdoors (for me that will be Central Park).
Freescale Semiconductor Holdings went public today in an IPO that was underwhelming.
On Thursday, Freescale began trading on the NYSE and the shares stayed above their $18 IPO price. UPDATE: Freescale's stock added 33 cents, or 1.83%, to close at $18.33 on the NYSE. Volume was 22.7 million.
The chipmaker on Wednesday sold 43.5 million shares at $18 each, below its $22 to $24 price range. Bookrunners on the deal include Citi, Deutsche Bank Securities, Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan. The underwriters have the option to buy another 6.5 million shares.
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is is on the hunt for its own deal.
MSO, which was founded by Martha Stewart, said today that it has hired the Blackstone Advisory Partners to "review and respond to various parties that have expressed interest in potentially partnering with or investing in the Company, as well as exploring other opportunities," according to a statement.
This sounds like MSO could be up for sale or is looking for an investor (there is also speculation that Stewart is looking to take MSO private). My coworkers at Thomson Reuters are reporting that Stewart, who is MSO's controlling shareholder, would prefer a transaction other than a sale but is considering all options.
Jive Software, backed by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, has acquired OffiSync Corp. Financial terms were not announced. OffiSync, a startup, provides social solutions for the Microsoft environment.
Eli Lily and an investor group have formed BioCritica, a Central Indiana-based biotech that will focus on the U.S. development and commercialization of Xigris. Financial terms were not announced. Care Capital and NovaQuest Capital are part of the investor group. Xigris is Lilly's medicine to treat sepsis.
LinkedIn's IPO was a big rousing success in its first day.
So much so that we asked you about the other most likely candidate to go public. Groupon, the daily deals site, has been talking to investment bankers. The company is expected to pick Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for its IPO, according to Thomson Reuters. Groupon’s IPO could raise as much as $1 billion while LinkedIn raised just $352.8 million (but LinkedIn's shares doubled during their first day and the company has a roughly $9 billion market cap).
We asked you yesterday when you thought Groupon might go public. The biggest group of readers, 30.4%, thinks the IPO will come as soon as possible. Another 20% believe the Groupon IPO might come next year while 16.1% expect it to come in third quarter.
What does this mean? Not that much. Especially since there was also a significant number of voters, nearly 20%, who don't think it matters when Groupon goes public (the world is ending Saturday so this question is moot).
Shades of the last dot.com bubble, Batman!
UPDATE: Shares of LinkedIn nearly doubled on their first trade, opening at $83. The stock hit a high of $122.69 but closed Thursday at $94.25, up 109.44%, on volume of 30.1 million shares.
Yesterday, the social network for professionals sold 7.84 million shares $45 each, top of its sweetened price range of $42 to $45 each. Its previous price range was $32 to $35 each.
Expectations for LinkedIn had been high, but this high? The Wall Street Journal said LinkedIn's valuation, based on its first trade, was roughly $8.5 billion. This for a company that barely made $15 million in earnings last year.
Boston Equity Advisors said Wednesday that they advised on Histogenics buy of ProChon Biotech. Financial terms were not announced. Histogenics, of Waltham, Mass., develops products to regenerate healthy cartilage. Investors includes Boston Millennia Partners, Foundation Medical Partners, Altima Partners, Inflection Point Partners and a private investor. ProChon is an Israeli biotech that develops tissue-regeneration technology.
UPDATE: LinkedIn came in at the top of its expected price range, raising $352.8 million.
The social network for professionals sold 7.84 million shares at $45 each, the top of its $42 to $45 price range, which had been increased earlier this week. It's previous price range was $32 to $35 a share.
The Wall Street Journal said LinkedIn will begin trading tomorrow with a market value of $4.3 billion.
America has voted, again.
This week, we asked you if Microsoft overpaid when it offered to buy Skype, the cheap Internet phone provider, for $8.5 billion.
Did MSFT get swindled? That's not clear. However, more than 80% of you thought MSFT's $8.5 billion was too rich. But everyone differed in how much.
The largest block of readers, or 40%, believed Microsoft overpaid by $3 to $4 billion. Nearly 16% thought MSFT $8.5 billion offer should’ve been lowered by $1 billion to $2 billion. Another chunk, or 12.6%, thought Microsoft's offer was too rich by $5 billion to $6 billion. There was also a segment of people, 12.6%, who believed MSFT shouldn't have paid anything for Skype.
Still, some voters didn't have any issue with the buyout. Nearly one-fifth of readers, or 18.9%, thought Microsoft’s $8.5 billion bid for Skype is just right.