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Rackspace Dives in Trading Debut While BigCommerce Soars

Rackspace Dives in Trading Debut While BigCommerce Soars

Cloud-service provider Rackspace Technology Inc. suffered the worst U.S. trading debut of the year while BigCommerce Holdings Inc. scored the best as the once-rebounding IPO market turns decidedly mixed.

Rackspace, which was taken private in 2016 by Apollo Global Management Inc., closed its first day back as a public company Wednesday down 22% after raising $704 million in an initial public offering that was already priced at the bottom of the marketed range. That was the worst first-day performance on a U.S. exchange this year for a company raising at least $100 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

BigCommerce, meanwhile, priced its IPO above a marketed range that had already been elevated earlier to raise $216 million. The e-commerce software company doubled from its offer price for the best debut of the year, the data show.

Rackspace Dives in Trading Debut While BigCommerce Soars

Adding to questions over which way the IPO market is headed, online mortgage lender Rocket Companies Inc. is slashing what was intended to be the year’s second-biggest U.S. IPO by more than a third to about $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the matter wasn’t public. Rocket, which operates Quicken Loans and Rocket Mortgage, is set to price its shares later Wednesday.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, companies have raised about $62 billion through first-time share sales on U.S. exchanges this year, compared with $50 billion for the same period in 2019, the data show. That includes a record amount for so-called blank-check companies -- $24 billion, almost double the volume for all of 2019. The year’s largest listing was the $4 billion offering by a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, backed by billionaire Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management.

Now as the pandemic deepens across much of the U.S., what had been a hard-charging market may be getting winded. Since mid-March, only one major listing -- supermarket chain Albertsons Cos. -- has priced below its marketed range, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg.

Value Dip

Rackspace, based in San Antonio, closed its first day with a market value of $3.26 billion. Including debt, cash and other considerations, the company had an enterprise value of $7.6 billion, people familiar with the matter said before Wednesday’s trading. When Apollo acquired it in 2016, the company was valued at $4.3 billion including debt at the time.

Rackspace designs and operates its customers’ cloud platforms. It has more than 120,000 customers across 120 countries and about 6,800 employees, which the company calls “Rackers.”

Chief Executive Officer Kevin Jones said in an interview that one of the biggest changes since Apollo acquired Rackspace is that it no longer competes with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

“Now they’re our biggest partner,” Jones said. “We look at them as our sales team and research and development team.”

Jones said he was pleased with how the IPO process has gone, saying innovation in the technology industry is what’s driving valuation.

Investors buying Rackspace shares include BlackRock Inc., Fidelity and Norges Bank Investment Management, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Representatives for BlackRock, Fidelity and Norges Bank declined to comment.

Apollo Control

Apollo will retain 65.1% of the voting power in Rackspace after the listing, the filings show.

BigCommerce, based in Austin, Texas, sold 9 million shares Tuesday for $24 each after marketing them for $21 to $23. The goals for the offering had been elevated earlier from 6.85 million shares at $18 to $20, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It closed Wednesday with a market value of $4.76 billion.

Its software allows companies to manage their online sales through marketplaces such as Amazon.com Inc. and social media platforms including Instagram shopping. Its customers are mainly in fashion, health and beauty, food and beverage, manufacturing and automotive.

Chairman and CEO Brent Bellm said in an interview that e-commerce has accelerated by 10 years in three months because of the pandemic. Commenting on the firm’s larger rival, Shopify Inc., Bellm said the market is so large that there’s a need for two winners.

BigCommerce’s IPO was led by Morgan Stanley, Barclays Plc, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. Its shares are trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol BIGC.

Rackspace’s offering was led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Apollo Global Securities, an affiliate of the private equity firm that backs Rackspace, was also an underwriter. Rackspace’s shares are trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol RXT.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.