The New York Business Journal featured Manatt’s Katherine Blair, a partner in the firm’s capital markets practice, in a Q&A-style article about the initial public offering (IPO) of Line, a messaging app for mobile devices. When asked about the direction of the market considering the rarity of IPOs, Blair responded:
“But it's been one of the slowest IPO markets. It's tough for the average joe company, or ones that are not necessarily a unicorn. Given the overhead of the regulatory expense, taking that into consideration, they're looking at alternative capital raising, whether it's venture capital or private equity.
“Everyone says a lot of money can be deployed, but everyone goes after the same companies. It's not easy money. Existing issuers I advise haven't been accessing the capital markets because of the uncertainty and volatility. Everyone is hunkering down. You're going to hear about the successful offerings, as well as the few that had a tough time pricing — those that priced below their range. A low public offering is not as attractive for companies. For the ones that are going to do the incredibly large, brand name public offerings, they may not be able to raise the money they want.”
Read the article here.