Whiteboard maker SMART Technologies prices biggest IPO of 2010, raises $660.1 million
By APThursday, July 15, 2010
SMART Technologies prices biggest IPO of 2010
NEW YORK — Whiteboard maker SMART Technologies Inc. raised $660.1 million in the biggest initial public offering listing in the U.S. this year.
The Canadian company priced 38.8 million Class A shares at $17 apiece late Wednesday. It had expected to offer 35.3 million shares for priced $16 to $18 each.
That makes SMART the biggest deal this year by proceeds. Oil and gas company Oasis Petroleum Inc. raised $588 million in June. But it’s far from the biggest IPO this year globally. Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. is set to raise $22.1 billion in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which would be the largest initial public offering ever.
Underwriters led by Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and RBC may buy another 5.8 million shares from SMART’s shareholders to cover excess demand for the IPO, bringing proceeds to $758 million.
The company is offering only 8.8 million shares, meaning its take of the IPO is just $149.6 million, before expenses. Shareholders, including Intel Corp. and private equity firm Apax Partners, sold more than three-quarters of the stock in the offering.
Shares are expected to begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq under the symbol “SMT.” They will also trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “SMA.”
SMART says its touch-screen, flat-panel interactive displays, which are used most often in classrooms, command 48 percent of the worldwide market for such products. Federal stimulus money for education has helped bolster its revenue since February 2009, the company said.
