Window shut for broker IPOs
A few months ago, rumours were flying about the pending IPOs of Cormark Securities and Wellington West Capital Markets. The acquisitions of Blackmont, Westwind Partners and Orion Securities only added to the furvour and excitement.
Since the highs of last fall, the publicly traded brokers haven’t performed well at all. Canaccord (CCI:TSX) is down more than 50% from its high (wasn’t that when Peter Brown announced his retirement?), and GMP (GMP.UN:TSX) is down by a third. Clearly, the lack of IPOs and large M&A fees will have an impact on revenue. Tom Weisel told investors last week that the next six months will be difficult.
Enough said.
With liquidity issues still swirling around Bear Stearns (BSC:NYSE; did you notice we beat Bloomberg and Reuters with that capital crunch rumour? see post “Bear rumour speaks volumes“, March 10-08), and a murky pipeline, Canada’s large private independent dealers won’t be going public any day soon.
MRM
(sry about the quiet week; your loyal scribbler has been laid out by the flu)
“that’s quite a rumour. Unfounded as it likely is.”
hmmm. 🙂
Drink lots of liquids. Did you have a flu shot this year? Seems like most who did, got the flu. hmmm. 😉
The Monday morning rumour spoke of Chapter 11 at BSC, which seemed unfounded given the likelihood that the U.S. government would step in to save the 5th largest brokerage firm in the U.S.
I could have been more aggressive in the prediction, though, that is true. In my defence, the stated rationale for the rumour has held together.
But no one should mistake this space for a crystal ball. 🙂
MRM
True, and step in they did! But only after neutralizing that pesky Spitzer irritant.
“But no one should mistake this space for a crystal ball.” – What for then, are financial blogs? 🙂
Either way, I’m sure BSC is just an untied shoelace of the next shoe about to drop.
(disclosure – I own shoes)