US-based agribusiness company Ceres raised $65m in its initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday as its five million shares floated at $13.00 a share. The flotation came a fortnight after Ceres cut the range from $21-$23 to $16-$17.
The cut in price from initial filing to flotation is large but Ceres’ IPO is only the latest to see a cut with Synacor, ChemoCentryx and Roundy’s all floating earlier in the month at prices lower than their set range.
Post-flotation, agribusiness corporation Monsanto holds 4.8% of Ceres’ stock, while shareholders also include Artal Luxembourg (15.2%), Warburg Pincus (12.2%), the Ambergate Trust (11.6%), Oxford Bioscience Partners (7.8%), Gimv (6.7%), Oppenheimer Funds (6.3%) and the Quantum Group (4.7%).
Underwriters for the offering were Goldman, Sachs & Co., Barclays Capital, Piper Jaffray, Raymond James and Simmons & Company International, with the first two acting as joint book-running managers.
The shares opened at $14.80 on Ceres’ first day of trading, ending on the same price – a rise of about 14%.