The initial public offering still managed to be the largest this year, surpassing Tallgrass Energy (NYSE:TEGP), which raised $1.2 billion with its IPO on May 6. According to Reuters Albertsons will try to price the shares Thursday and begin trading the shares on Friday. But the company, which also owns Safeway, postponed the stock sale.
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Investors’ reaction to First Data and Albertsons show that more companies will likely hold back from launching IPOs or continue to discount them if they go ahead with them, Smith added.
A surge in the number of companies lining up to raise money through an initial public offer (IPO) is, more often than not, a sign of a healthy equity market.
To access the First Data media kit, please visit www.firstdata.com/IPO. Processing card payments and selling groceries isn’t as dynamic as making consumer gadgets, developing drugs or operating a hot restaurant chain.
The company has acquired several start-ups in the past few years such as the software developer Clover Network to harness this information for itself and retailers.
First Data may have a better chance of doing well over the long haul though. Bisignano was formerly the co-COO of JPMorgan Chase and was once thought to be among the top candidates to eventually succeed Jamie Dimon as Chase CEO.
The ascent of cashless payments, which overtook the use of notes and coins earlier this year in the United Kingdom, represents an explosion in First Data’s potential market and a chance to use the huge amounts of data created by these transactions.
But it may be hard for Albertsons to attract buyers.
There are still high-profile deals that could come later this year, including Square Inc., the online payments provider and lender, which revealed its offering plans in a filing on Wednesday night, seeking to raise as much as $275 million.
The Walmart revelations put a damper on the entire retailing sector and even triggered a sell off on Wall Street on Wednesday.
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The continuing concern for First Data and Albertsons, as well as for other private-equity backed companies looking to go public, is that investors are beginning to sour on shares of highly indebted companies.
