Business

The 2021 IPO rush begins

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Just three working days into the new year and IPOs are rushing out of the gate in a continuation of 2020’s deluge.

On Tuesday, in a sign that a public debut is just around the corner, buy-now-pay-later fintech Affirm revealed plans to raise up to $934.8 million in an IPO that could value it at about $11 billion on a diluted basis. That’s no small step up for its investors: The company, which delayed its IPO late last year as the Securities and Exchange Commission tangled with a backlog of initial offerings, was last valued at $2.9 billion in 2019. 

Then, adding to the January pile, second-hand clothing marketplace Poshmark revealed on Wednesday its estimated IPO range. The company, after posting a profit over the past two quarters, says it plans to raise as much as $257.4 million in an offering of 6.6 million shares priced between $35 to $39 apiece. 

And investors are still waiting on gaming company Roblox’s IPO, which was also expected to debut in December but delayed its listing as shares of companies like Airbnb and DoorDash soared beyond expectations last year.

Of course, as with all such filings, the numbers are subject to change (Affirm currently says it plans to offer 24.6 million shares priced somewhere in the range of $33 to $38 apiece).

But the tl;dr: January is looking anything but sleepy.

RAZOR MERGERS GET RAZEDProcter & Gamble and women’s razors startup Billie agreed to terminate their merger Tuesday after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in December alleging that the tie-up would eliminate competition from “innovative nascent competitors.” That comes after Edgewell Personal Care terminated its near $1.4 billion deal to acquire male-focused razor maker Harry’s last year following a suit from the FTC. Read more.

Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
Email: [email protected]