North America Equity House: Goldman Sachs

Where’s the beef? Beyond Meat’s IPO relied on a vegan vision for the future. Ethan Brown, founder and CEO, evangelised on the health and ecological benefits of his products during eight days of marketing to more than 350 accounts. His message dovetailed nicely with the objectives of an emerging class of environmental, social and governance investors. Best known for its Beyond Burger, a pea-based burger that mimics the look and taste of meat, Beyond Meat is building its company as part of a global sustainable food system for decades to come....

More water please Water is essential for life, but in the US stock market water utilities have long registered as little more than an afterthought to investors. At the time of writing, water represented only about 4% of the US$1trn US utilities sector, which is dominated by power and gas companies with greater scale and often higher growth prospects. The subsector’s neglected status was apparent when Aqua America, a water and wastewater utility serving more than three million people in eight US states, agreed to buy gas distributor Peoples...

Privatisation of state-owned businesses provided the seed for Brazil’s re-emergence on the global equity landscape this year, a trend that is only in its infancy. Brazilian ECM issuance over the awards period more than doubled to US$22.6bn, of which US$14.6bn were secondary sales, predominately by government-owned entities. Suddenly moderating interest rates – the benchmark Selic rate stands at a record low 4.5%, down from 14% just three years ago – has seen an influx of foreign investment including into Brazilian equities. Bank of America...

Down payment MercadoLibre fueled its transformation from e-commerce pureplay to integrated payments and fulfilment platform with a US$2bn fundraising that capitalised on appeal from both institutional and strategic investors. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley sewed up the funding in just one day in March, placing 2.1m new shares on a Monday evening at US$480 apiece, virtually flat to market despite a 7% run-up in the stock over the one-day marketing period. The full exercise of the greenshoe took proceeds up to US$1.15bn....

Cornerstone Emerging market payments company Network International delivered on every count at its IPO with a differentiated equity story offering strong growth, a wealth of interest that translated into a bulging book of demand and even a pop in the aftermarket. The all-secondary £1.2bn London listing that saw Emirates NBD Bank selling with Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic also stands out for its ambitious 60% upsize and value-enhancing cornerstone investment. Network International was only the fourth EMEA IPO to launch in the year when...

Just the ticket Private equity’s return on investment is driven by finding a profitable route to exit in the shortest number of stops. KKR and a trio of minority financial investors proved the perfect passengers for UK train ticket reseller Trainline to exit a nearly five-year investment within as many months and in three simple steps. Having listed 65% of the business in a £1.1bn London IPO in June priced at 350p, the stock had gained nearly 40% to peak at 489p on September 13, pretty much begging the sponsors to take money off the table....

World class Thai conglomerate Asset World’s record Bt48bn (US$1.57bn at the time) IPO capped a remarkable year for the country’s capital markets, underlining investors’ desire to gain exposure to a resilient economy that offers real diversification away from China. The hospitality and property company’s listing was Thailand’s largest ever corporate IPO and tied with the 2013 listing of True Telecommunications Growth Infrastructure Trust as the country’s biggest on record. Asset World also priced at a premium valuation, raising the bar for new...

Concept creation Huatai Securities’ US$1.7bn landmark sale of global depositary receipts in London marked the launch of a long-awaited trading link between Shanghai and London, deepening ties between the two financial centres and opening a new channel for Chinese companies to raise funds. The listing beat expectations in every way. Support from UK and global funds – including some US$100m orders – allowed Huatai to sell more stock than originally planned, and secondary liquidity has been surprisingly strong with a healthy amount of stock...

Investment banks that serve the middle market are under pressure from much larger banks that are going “downmarket” to squeeze out more market share. To weather the onslaught, Cowen partnered with the larger ECM firms in sectors where its expertise could add value. To that end, the New York-based bank differentiates itself by combining research coverage of 800 companies across seven sectors with a complementary sales and trading platform and a senior banker on every deal. “Clients get more for their dollars when they hire Cowen,” said Grant...