Article by Charlotte Walker-Osborn Head of TMT
Sector and Sam Jardine Associate, Commercial
What? The FT has reported that in response to a
spike in market turbulence, consumer internet companies Groupon and
Zynga have postponed plans to go public this month.
So What? What does this mean for the sector?
Market jitters? If a company feels investor confidence levels are
low, it makes sense to hold off on road-shows and other pre-IPO
hype until market conditions (or at least perceived conditions)
improve. Groupon, Zynga and Facebook, to name but a few in this
space, won't be making rash decisions during a time of
uncertainty. They've missed the LinkedIn euphoria, so will
have to wait until conditions stabilise. We may also be seeing some
sector altruism at play here - a high profile but underwhelming
float could damage the sector much more than a delayed but
ultimately successful float.
