IPO Week: Five More Stocks Make Their Debut

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The March IPO market may come close to matching a busy February.

Five more IPOs made their stock-market debuts this week, bringing the month’s total to 11 – seven shy of the 18 that hit the market in February with a week still to go. With 29 new stocks in less than two months, the initial public offering market is alive and well after a very slow start to the year.

A sixth IPO was supposed to debut today after pricing on Thursday, but BATS Global – which operates equities and options exchanges in the U.S. and Europe – pulled its stock off the market after trading briefly this morning. Evidently the stock was pulled due to technical glitches that were apparently affecting its own trading.

Here were the five companies that went public this week that haven’t pulled their stocks off the shelves yet:

  • Vantiv (NYSE: VNTV): The former subsidiary of Fifth Third Bank raised $500 million by offering 29 million shares. The IPO opened at $17 a share yesterday and closed at $19.76 a share today.
  • ExactTarget (NYSE: ET): This company priced above its range of $15 to $17 a share, instead going public at $19 a share. The company raised $161.5 million by selling 8.5 million shares. ExactTarget is a provider of interactive marketing solutions. The company suffered a net loss of $35 million in 2011. The stock closed the week at $26.69 per share.
  • Caesarstone (Nasdaq: CSTE): Caesarstone is a leading Israeli manufacturer of quartz used in kitchen countertops. The company raised $73 million in its IPO, which at $11 a share was well below its anticipated range of $14 to $16 a share. Caesarstone has a 13% share of the global quartz market, and has customers in 42 countries. The stock is flat since debuting yesterday.
  • Whiting USA Trust (NYSE: WHZ): An oil and natural gas trust, Whiting went public at $20 a share and is already up to $24.50.
  • Vipshop Holdings (NYSE: VIPS): Vipshop isn’t off to a great start. The company, which operates a retail website based on China, saw its IPO price 32% below its expected range at $6.50 a share. The stock already fell to $5.50 a share in its first day of trading.
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