DiDi Global Highlights a Monster Week of 19 IPOs

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It was a week in the initial public offering market that was as torrid as the weather. Nineteen companies went public in New York, including 10 on Wednesday—a tie for the week of Dec. 13, 2004, notes Renaissance Capital. Leading the parade:

DiDi Global,

a ride-hailing company that’s China’s answer to

Uber Technologies.

All in all, traditional IPOs raised $9.9 billion on the week.

Shares of DiDi opened at $16.65, hit a high of $18.01, then finished the day up a little more than 1%. DiDi raised some $4.4 billion after selling 316.8 million shares at $14 each, above what it planned to offer. The shares rose until news of a Chinese cybersecurity probe surfaced.

The week had a Chinese flavor (for other emerging market IPO candidates, see page M4). It began on Tuesday with

Dingdong Cayman,

a Chinese on-demand e-commerce company, which ended slightly up from its $23.50 offer price. The best debut belonged to China’s

Pop Culture Group,

which sold shares at $6 each and closed at $27.51, up 345%; overnight, the price went as high as $58. The company hosts entertainment events, operates hip-hop related online programs, and offers corporate event planning and marketing.

Wednesday was a blowout, with Pop Culture, DiDi, and eight others—including

Aerovate Therapeutics,

Clear Secure,

CVRx,

Intapp,

Integral Ad Science Holding,

LegalZoom,

SentinelOne,

and

Xometry

—debuting. Most sold above the expected range, and saw prices pop. And Thursday brought the frosting on the doughnut:

Krispy Kreme,

which rose 24% after pricing below its range. IPOs took off Friday.

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Last Week

Pre-Holiday Cheer

The tech rally continued, turbocharged on Monday by a federal judge dismissing antitrust suits against

Facebook,

which then roared to over a trillion dollars in market value. The

Dow Jones Industrial Average,

Nasdaq Composite,

and

S&P 500

hit new highs. Consumer confidence rose, Treasury yields fell, and the jobs numbers thumped expectations. Before the long July Fourth weekend, Friday had more new highs. On the week, the Dow industrials rose 1%, to 34,786.35; the S&P 500 picked up 1.7%, to 4352.34; and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.9%, to 14,639.33.

Facebook Off the Hook

A federal judge blocked Federal Trade Commission and state lawsuits against Facebook that sought to force it to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. The judge argued that the FTC had failed to prove that Facebook controlled 60% of the social-media market and that the states waited too long to sue over the deals. The judge gave the FTC 60 days to refile the antitrust case; in the state case, he suggested the FTC might have the authority the states lacked.

Condo Collapse

The death toll from the collapse of a Surfside, Fla., condo structure reached 22, with 126 still missing, even as the search paused over structural concerns, then resumed. Investigations began into what caused the collapse, focusing on defective design, a sinkhole or water intrusion, or failure of concrete supports.

Trump Org Charges

A New York grand jury indicted the Trump Organization and CFO Allen Weisselberg on tax-related charges.

Bank Payouts

Five major U.S. banks raised their dividends after successful stress tests.

Morgan Stanley,

Goldman Sachs,

JPMorgan Chase,

Bank of America,

and

Wells Fargo

announced some $2 billion in new payouts.

Binance Bounced

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, was banned from operating in the U.K. by regulators on charges that “a significantly high number of cryptoasset companies” were not meeting anti-money-laundering regulations. Japan also announced a ban on Binance.

Annals of Deal Making

Visa

agreed to pay $2.15 billion for Tink, a Swedish fintech that links 3,400 banks and financial institutions in Europe. Visa earlier this year backed out of a $5.3 billion deal for fintech Plaid, after Justice Department antitrust opposition…Three chip companies,

Broadcom,

Marvell, and

MediaTek,

endorsed

Nvidia’s

proposed acquisition of Arm Holdings from

SoftBank Group.

The deal has drawn scrutiny because of Arm’s importance as a chip designer…Chinese ride-hailing giant

DiDi Global

went public on the New York Stock Exchange, one of 19 IPOs this week in New York. Shares rose until China announced a cybersecurity probe… Private-equity firm EQT and Goldman Sachs agreed to buy contract research company Parexel International for $8.5 billion, including debt…The U.S. won support for a global minimum tax from 130 countries. Talks continue.

Write to Luisa Beltran at [email protected]