The market remains hesitant to jump on any new initial public offerings. However, those in the semiconductor sector are seeing the most interest as investors look for ways to participate in the artificial intelligence boom. 🤖
Weeks after ARM Holdings went public in the U.S., Japanese semiconductor equipment maker Kokusai Electric went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company sold 58.8 million shares, raising 108 billion yen, making it the largest listing since SoftBank in December 2018.
Kokusai Electric is a spin-off from Hitachi Kokusai Electric, a subsidiary of multinational electronics giant Hitachi. However, it was acquired by American private equity firm KKR in 2018 for $2.2 billion. KKR still has about 110 million shares that it must wait at least 180 days to sell, but it did quite well on the deal. 🤑
As for day-one investors, the stock saw a 32% pop in its debut. We’ll have to wait and see if that enthusiasm continues or if it has a similar experience as recent U.S. IPOs that have quickly fallen back to earth. 🤷
While investors are actively looking for opportunities in the semiconductor space, they’re avoiding payment companies like the plague. ⛔
The sector came under additional pressure after Worldline, a major payments company in France, cut its full-year guidance. It cited a broader economic slowdown, which was weighed more heavily than positive comments from Visa, which said it hasn’t seen much change in consumer spending this year.
Worldwide shares plummeted 60% on the Paris stock exchange, dragging U.S. peers like Block, PayPal, and others down with it. What a wicked chart that is… 😮
