U.S. IPO Weekly Recap: The Second Quarter Starts With No IPOs

There were no IPOs in the first week of April, though one SPAC priced. Four IPOs submitted initial filings.

The week’s sole deal was Denali Capital Acquisition (DECAU), which raised $75 million. Led by the CEO of US Tiger Securities, the SPAC plans to target the technology, hospitality, or consumer services sectors.

1 IPO During the Week of April 4th, 2022
Issuer Business	Deal Size	Market Cap at IPO	Price vs. Midpoint	First Day Return	Return at 04/08
Denali Capital Acq. (DECAU)	$75M	$99M	0%	+0%	+0%
Fourth blank check company formed by the CEO of US Tiger Securities.

Three IPOs submitted initial filings. Norovirus vaccine developer HilleVax (HLVX) filed to raise $100 million. Eye disease biotech Belite Bio (BLTE) filed to raise $46 million, inflammatory disease biotech Intrinsic Medicine (INRX) filed to raise $29 million, and projection screen maker Strong Global Entertainment (SGE) filed to raise $16 million.

4 Filings During the Week of April 4th, 2022
Issuer Business	Deal Size	Sector	Lead Underwriter
Intrinsic Medicine (INRX)	$29M	Health Care	Spartan Securities
Preclinical biotech developing HiMO therapies for GBA and inflammatory disorders.
Strong Entertainment (SGE)	$16M	Communication Services	ThinkEquity
Maker of premium projection screens being spun out of Ballantyne Strong.
HilleVax (HLVX)	$100M	Health Care	JP Morgan
Phase 2 biotech developing a novel norovirus vaccine in-licensed from Takeda.
Belite Bio (BLTE)	$46M	Health Care	Benchmark
Phase 3 biotech developing novel therapies for retinal degeneration and metabolic diseases.

Activity in the IPO market is expected to pick up in the week ahead. Three IPOs are scheduled to price, led by LNG services provider Excelerate Energy (EE), which is slated to be the first $100+ million US IPO in over two months.

Excelerate Energy plans to raise $360 million at a $2.4 billion market cap. Founded and owned by oil magnate George Kaiser, the company owns a fleet of floating storage and regasification units, which are used to regasify liquefied natural gas (LNG) for power generation and other applications.

Excelerate has benefited from accelerating growth of LNG demand tied to the war in Ukraine, and it currently has three projects under development. However, it depends on few customers, mainly government entities in emerging markets.

OTC-listed Applied Blockchain (OTCPK:APLD), which is building data centers leased to crypto miners, plans to raise $60 million at a $1.8 billion market cap. The company’s first facility was constructed in February 2022, and it plans to bring a total of 800MW online by 2023. Applied Blockchain is early stage with limited operating history.

Singapore-based Genius Group (GNS) plans to raise $18 million at a $118 million market cap. Genius Group is an entrepreneur education technology company with approximately 1.9 million students in 191 countries spanning all age groups. Unprofitable with accelerating growth in 1H21, the company originally planned to raise $40 million before slashing its deal size in February.

U.S. IPO Calendar
Issuer Business	Deal Size Market Cap	Price Range Shares Filed	Top Bookrunners
Genius Group (GNS) Singapore	$18M $118M	$5 – $6 3,272,727	Boustead
Provides online and in-person entrepreneur education services.
Applied Blockchain (OTCPK:APLD) Dallas, TX	$60M $1,751M	$16.54 – $20.54 3,236,245	B. Riley Needham
Building data centers leased to crypto miners.
Excelerate Energy (EE) The Woodlands, TX	$360M $2,383M	$21 – $24 16,000,000	Barclays JP Morgan
Operates LNG storage and regasification infrastructure in emerging markets.

Street research is expected for one company, and lock-up periods will be expiring for up to five companies.

IPO Market Snapshot

The Renaissance IPO Indices are market cap weighted baskets of newly public companies. As of 4/7/2022, the Renaissance IPO Index was down 27.8% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 was down 5.2%. Renaissance Capital’s IPO ETF (IPO) tracks the index, and top ETF holdings include Uber Technologies (UBER) and Snowflake (SNOW).

The Renaissance International IPO Index was down 23.8% year-to-date, while the ACWX was down 7.2%. Renaissance Capital’s International IPO ETF (IPOS) tracks the index, and top ETF holdings include Volvo Car Group (OTCPK:VOLAF) and Kuaishou (OTCPK:KUASF).

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Editor’s Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.