Fortegra shelves US listing plans again amid economic uncertainty (updated)
07/02/2024 12:52
(Adds Tiptree shares in paragraph 4, background in paragraphs 6
& 7)
Feb 7 (Reuters) - Specialty insurance company Fortegra
Group has withdrawn its plans for an initial public offering in
the United States, a regulatory filing showed on Wednesday,
nearly three years after the company scrapped its earlier
listing plans.
The move by Fortegra, a unit of investment manager
Tiptree Inc TIPT.O , underscores a pessimism in capital markets
due to poor performance of newly minted public companies.
The Warburg Pincus-backed company aimed for a valuation of
up to $1.52 billion last month.
Shares of Tiptree slipped 3% before the bell on Wednesday
after Fortegra cited "prevailing market conditions and the high
value Tiptree and Warburg Pincus place on Fortegra and its
growth prospects" for withdrawing its IPO plans.
The Jacksonville-based company had previously filed with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell 18 million
shares, priced between $15 and $18 apiece, and raise about $324
million at the top end.
A slate of companies including Birkenstock BIRK.N , Amer
Sports AS.N , Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund MSDL.N and
Kazakhstan-based banking and fintech giant Kaspi.kz KSPI.O are
trading below their IPO prices.
Still, some investors expect the U.S. IPO market to
stage a rebound as bets of a soft landing firm up. Social media
firm Reddit, cloud security company Rubrik and software startup
ServiceTitan are all expected to go public in 2024.
(Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh
Kuber)
((Mehnaz.Yasmin@thomsonreuters.com;))