I.P.O.’s Hit Market Turbulence

I.P.O.’S FACE TURBULENCE  |  The market turmoil of recent weeks is affecting a range of companies seeking to go public, DealBook’s Michael J. de la Merced reports. HD Supply, a former Home Depot division that serves construction and maintenance contractors, priced its stock sale at $18 a share on Wednesday, well below its expected range. Tremor Video, a leading video advertising network, priced its offering at $10 a share, below an anticipated range of $11 to $13, according to a person briefed on the matter. The CDW Corporation, a technology products retailer, priced its shares at $17, the low end of an already-reduced range.

Markets that recently seemed ebullient have turned shaky on concerns that the Federal Reserve will soon begin pulling back on ts economic stimulus. With the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index down nearly 3 percent over the last month, some investors in I.P.O.’s are pushing for better terms from sellers and underwriters. “What we’ve been seeing are deals that are being reconfigured,” said David Menlow, the president of IPOfinancial.com, a research firm. “Some companies will be able to endure such a process, while others won’t.”

It’s an unwelcome turn for companies owned by private equity firms, which are eager to sell their holdings. Many of these companies took on significant amounts of debt in their takeovers, especially those struck at the height of the credit boom in 2007, Mr. de la Merced writes. Both HD Supply and CDW disclosed that they would use the proceeds from their I.P.O.’s to pay down their obligations.

WALL STREET CHEERS DECISION ON GAY MARRIAGE  |  The Supreme Court rulings on Wednesday that bolstered gay marriage prompted bouts of celebration around the country. Among the gratified were the heads of Wall Street firms. “This is good for our company and clients, but more importantly, it’s the right thing to do,” Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, said in a statement. “The rights of all people are important and must be protected.”

“Marriage equality lowers burdens and challenges imposed on employers, and will lead to building successful businesses and a strong American economy,” Goldman Sachs said in a statement, according to Bloomberg News. On Twitter, Lloyd C. Blankfein, the firm’s chief executive, said: “Today’s decisions help define who weare as a people, whether or not we are part of the group directly affected.”

In a pair of rulings, the Supreme Court decided that married same-sex couples were entitled to federal benefits, and effectively allowed same-sex marriages in California. Some experts noted that the ruling on benefits could be good for corporations, simplifying administrative duties and making it easier to recruit workers.

S.E.C. TO TEST POLICY OF ADMITTING GUILT  |  “Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement chiefs have drawn up a hit list of impending cases where officials intend to test their new policy of requiring admissions of wrongdoing when settling civil charges, according to people close to the agency,” Jean Eaglesham reports in The Wall Street Journal. “The handful of like! ly target! cases include a planned enforcement action against a company alleged to have made illicit profits by charging investors undisclosed markups on top of commissions, one of the people said.”

ON THE AGENDA  |  ConAgra reports earnings before the market opens, while Nike reports earnings this evening. Data on personal income and spending in May is out at 8:30 a.m. Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs is on CNBC at 4 p.m. Henry M. Paulson Jr., a former Treasury secretary, is on CNBC at 4:30 p.m.

STRESS IN MUNICIPAL BOND MARKET  |  States and cities are learning that the days of easy money are coming to an end, Mary Williams Walsh writes in DealBook. “Interest rates have been inchng up everywhere, sending America’s vast market for municipal bonds, a crucial source of financing for roads, bridges, schools and more, into its steepest decline since the dark days of the financial crisis in 2008.”

“For one state, Illinois, the higher interest rates will add up to $130 million over the next 25 years â€" and that is for just one new borrowing. All told, the interest burden of states and localities is likely to grow by many billions, sapping tax dollars that otherwise might have been spent on public services. The same concerns about rising rates that have buffeted the world’s stock markets recently have also affected the market for municipal bonds. The muni market, despite a modest rally on Wednesday, is headed for one of its worst months in years.”

Mergers & Acquisitions »

Dish Wi! thdraws Its Bid for Clearwire  |  Dish Network withdrew its $4.40-a-share offer for Clearwire on Wednesday, nearly a week after the bid was trumped with a sweetened proposal by Sprint Nextel.
DealBook »

Verizon Looks to Canada for Wireless Deals  |  Reuters reports: “Verizon Communications Inc. has offered to buy Canadian telecom startup Wind Mobile and is in talks to acquire Mobilicity, as it seeks to challenge Canada’s three big wireless providers, sources familiar with the deals said on Wednesday.”
REUTERS

Zimmer Fires Back at Men’s Wearhouse Board  |  George Zimmer, the founder of Men’s Wearhouse, was critical of the board in an open letter to the company on Wednesday. “To justify their actions, they now have tried to portray me as an obstinate former C.E.O., determined to regain absolute control by pushing a going private transaction for my own personal benefit and ego,” he wrote. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
HUFFINGTON POST

A Second Bid Emerges for Empire State Building  |  Bloomberg News reports: “An unidentified bidder offered to buy New York’s Empire State Building for $2.1 billion, the second takeover proposal reported before a planned initial public offering that would include the skyscraper.”
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Precision Castparts Plans to Buy Permaswage for $600 Million  | 
REUTERS

Cerberus Said to Bid for Harris Teeter Supermarket Chain  | 
WALL STREET JOURNAL

INVESTMENT BANKING »

Europe Agrees on New Rules for Troubled Banks  |  The plan that Eropean Union finance ministers agreed to early Thursday specifies the order in which banks’ investors and creditors, and then uninsured depositors, face losses when banks collapse.
NEW YORK TIMES

In Shareholder Say-on-Pay Votes, More Whispers Than Shouts  |  The Dodd-Frank Act required shareholder approval of executive pay packages, but investors don’t seem to care about pay if their stocks are up, Jesse Eisinger of ProPublica writes in his column, The Trade.
The Trade »

Contemplating the End of Fannie and Freddie  |  A new bill in Washington “would eliminate Fannie and Freddie; the two companies are supposed to be wound down within five years. But does that mean the private market will take over? Not a chance,” Joe Nocera, a columnist for The New York Times, writes.
NEW YORK TIMES

Nomura Hires Former JPMorgan Banker in Leveraged Finance  | 
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Barclays Names New Head of South Korea Operations  | 
WALL STREET JOURNAL

PRIVATE EQUITY »

Where Private Equity Deals Are Done  |  Last year, private equity firms invested $347 billion in more than 2,000 companies based in the United States, according to an annual report from the Private Equity Growth Capital Council to be released on Thursday. The report includes rankings of states and congressional districts according to investment.
PRIVATE EQUITY GROWTH CAPITAL COUNCIL

K.K.R. Said to Pursue Bushnell  |  The private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts “has submitted a formal bid” for Bushnell, the manufacturer of hunting equipment, The New York Post reports.
NEW YORK POST

HEDGE FUNDS »

For Commodities, an End to the ‘Supercycle’  |  “If anyone was still in doubt about whether the era of ever-rising prices driven by rapid Chinese growth was over, events of the past week have surely dispelled it,” The Financial Times reports.
FINANIAL TIMES

Starboard Value Proposes 4 Nominees for Office Depot Board  | 
REUTERS

I.P.O./OFFERINGS »

Rough Markets in Asia Affect Casino I.P.O.’s  |  Resorts World Manila, a Philippine casino business, put a $500 million I.P.O. in Manila on hold, while Macau Legend Development reduced the size of its Hong Kong I.P.O. by half, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

VENTURE CAPITAL »

Sex Discrimination Suit Against Venture Firm to Stay in Public View  |  Reuters reports: “A high-profile Silicon Valley sex discrimination lawsuit moved closer to a trial after a panel of justices ruled that venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers cannot take a former partner’s claims to arbitration.”
REUTERS

Some Small Businesses Accept Payments in Bitcoin  | 
WALL STREET JOURNAL /a>