Investors Buy IPOs for Less Than Expected
The market for initial public stock offerings is ramping up again, but investors are balking at the prices some companies hoped to get.
Glendale-based American Reprographics Co. priced its offering at $13 a share late Thursday, below the range of $14 to $16 the company sought.
American Reprographics, which provides document management services to the architectural, engineering and construction industries, sold 13.35 million shares, raising $173.6 million. About 5.7 million of the shares were sold by company investors.
The company earned $25.5 million on revenue of $336.3 million in the first nine months of 2004, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the symbol ARP.
Two other IPOs priced Thursday also were below expectations. Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Redwood City, Calif.-based biotech firm (ticker symbol: THLD), sold 5.3 million shares at $7 each. The company had hoped to get $8 to $10.
Charlotte, N.C.-based FairPoint Communications Inc. (ticker: FRP), a regional phone company, sold 25 million shares at $18.50. The company had hoped to raise as much as $20 a share.
