The generation of leveraged buyouts had its run by 1989, the end being preceded by the mini-market crash of 189 points that followed a failed takeover of United Airlines by American industrialist Marvin Davis. It was then that IPO Financial Network’s President, David Menlow, realized what would happen: the market would swing back in the direction of equity and the IPO market would re-emerge. If a
reliable model could be developed that would be able to project the opening premiums of the IPOs and Secondaries well in advance of their first day of trading, this information would become invaluable to the retail and institutional markets. It was then that IPOfn was born. Word spread like wildfire among investors about the accuracy of IPOfn’s opening premium projections. Along came what was known as the “.com era,” the IPO market had reached the apex of activity; this was the period that made investors money simply and quickly, if they were able to get allocations. Eventually the bubble burst, and the Global Research Settlement (“Global Settlement”) began. Sponsored by the NY State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, the SEC, the NYSE and NASD, 12 broker dealers became mandated to provide independent research on IPOs; the settlement resulted in an increase in the IPO quiet period and several new regulations designed to prevent abuse on providing “favorable” appraisals. IPOfn was selected by 8 of the 12 in this litigation: Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Lehman, Merrill, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Thomas Weisel. Over the years IPOfn has continued to enhance its fundamental reports and expand content with research that has yet to be matched in the pre-IPO space. This is complemented by the freedom to issue reports unrestricted by the 40-day quiet period, as IPOfn is not a broker/dealer. IPOfn fundamental reports aim for clarity when assessing each company’s risk profile, providing clients with the information they need to consider adding a stock to their portfolio. With over 20 years of experience, IPOfn is able to deliver a service better than having a specialty IPO analyst on staff while remaining much more cost effective, and undoubtedly more efficient.
