Apax-Backed Paycor HCM Rises in Debut After $426 Million IPO

Apax-Backed Paycor HCM Climbs in Debut After $426 Million IPO

22 Jul 2021, 06:42 AM IST

(Bloomberg) -- Software maker Paycor HCM Inc. climbed 13% in its trading debut after a $426 million initial public offering in one of the busiest weeks of the year for U.S. listings.

Shares of the Apax Partners-backed company opened at $28 Wednesday after selling for $23 each in the IPO. The shares, which rose as much as 32%, closed at $26.05 in New York trading, giving the company a market value of $4.46 billion.

The Cincinnati-based company sold 18.5 million shares for $23 each on Tuesday after offering them for $18 to $21.

The listing is one of 29 by companies seeking to raise more than $6.7 billion on U.S. exchanges this week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The largest of those is an offering of up to $1.42 billion by insurance company Ryan Specialty Group Holdings Inc., which is set to price its shares later Wednesday.

E-commerce software maker VTEX, backed by a SoftBank Group Corp. fund, rose 17% in its U.S. trading debut Wednesday. It priced its IPO above a marketed range on Tuesday, raising $361 million.

Paycor, which makes human capital management software for small and midsize businesses, said in its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it has more than 28,000 customers across all 50 states in the U.S.

‘Employee Market’

Paycor Chief Executive Officer Raul Villar Jr. said the company is focused on getting people back to work, especially as the coronavirus pandemic subsides.

“All indications are that there will be strong employment in the future,” Villar said. “Without question, it’s an employee market.”

Companies making their trading debut Wednesday included CS Disco Inc., which makes software for law firms and legal services. The Houston-based company’s shares rose 28%.

Applications software developer Kaltura Inc. rose 20% in its debut after raising $150 million in its IPO. The company had earlier cut its target for the listing by more than half.

Kaltura co-founder and CEO Ron Yekutiel said the company is planning to make more acquisitions.

‘Second Inning’

“We’re not one of these companies that suddenly popped in the pandemic,” Yekutiel said in an interview, saying the company has had continuous, predictable growth.

Yekutiel said he believes the long-term opportunities in the video software industry are expansive. “We’re in the second inning of video,” he said.

Paycor said funds controlled by private equity firm Apax Partners will own 82% of its common stock after its listing.

For the nine months ended March 31, Paycor had a net loss of $46 million on revenue of $265 million, compared with a loss of $47 million on revenue of $255 million for the same period a year earlier, according to the filings.

Paycor’s offering was led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The company’s shares are trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol PYCR.