Opening Day: Fannie, Freddie rally as Trump posts picture of apparent IPO

Shares of Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) moved higher after President Trump over the weekend posted a picture on social media of an alleged initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange of a company called “The Great American Mortgage Corporation.” The post followed reporting last week that the Trump administration is weighing an IPO of the government sponsored entries.

LATEST IPOS AND DIRECT LISTINGS:

• Heartflow (HTFL) opened on August 8 at $28. The company, which develops technology to treat coronary artery disease, priced its upsized initial public offering of 16.67M shares at $19.00 per share.
• Avidbank Holdings (AVBH) opened on August 8 at $23. The California corporation and the bank holding company for Avidbank, a California state-chartered bank, priced its initial public offering of 2.61M shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $23.00 per share. The deal priced at the midpoint of the $22.00-$24.00 target range.
• Etoiles Capital (EFTY) opened on August 8 at $4. The company priced 1.4M shares at $4.00. The deal priced at the low end of the $4.00-$6.00 range. Etoiles is a Hong Kong-headquartered financial services firm.
• DarkIris (DKI) opened on August 8 at $8.80. The technology enterprise engaged in the development, publishing and operating of mobile digital games through various third-party digital storefronts priced its initial public offering of 1.5M Class A ordinary shares at a public offering price of $4.00 per Class A ordinary share.
• FireFly Aerospace (FLY) opened on August 7 at $70. The company, which describes itself as “a space and defense technology company that enables government and commercial customers to launch, land, and operate in space,” priced 19.296M shares at $45.00. Firefly said it intends to use its net proceeds from this offering to repay outstanding borrowings under its credit agreement, pay any accrued and unpaid dividends on certain series of its preferred stock, and for general corporate purposes.
• WhiteFiber (WYFI) opened on August 7 at $25. The company priced 9.375M shares at $17.00. The deal size was raised to 9.375M from 7.81M and the deal priced at the high end of its $15.00-$17.00 range. WhiteFiber is the artificial intelligence infrastructure subsidiary of crypto treasury firm Bit Digital (BTBT). In the prospectus filed with the SEC related the offering, the company stated: “In connection with this offering, we are being carved out of Bit Digital, Inc. and will operate as a separate public company upon the completion of this offering.”
• C1 Fund (CFND) opened on August 7 at $9.75. The new closed-end investment company priced its initial public offering of 6M shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $10.00 per share. The Fund’s investment objective is to maximize the portfolio’s total return, principally by seeking capital gains on the Fund’s equity and equity-related investments. Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets in equity and equity-linked securities of companies principally engaged in the digital assets services and technology sector.
• CTW Cayman (CTW) opened on August 6 at $4.75. The company priced 2.4M shares IPO priced at $5.00. The deal size was reduced to 2.4M shares of common stock from 3M shares of common stock and the deal priced at the low end of its $5.00-$6.00 range. Kingswood acted as sole book running manager for the offering. CTW operates a game platform providing global access to web-based, free-to-play games inspired by popular Japanese animations.

RECENT SPAC IPOS:

• Starry Sea Acquisition (SSEA) opened on August 8 at $10.04. The blank check company incorporated in the Cayman Islands announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 5M units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, with each unit consisting of one ordinary share and one right to receive one-sixth of one ordinary share upon the consummation of an initial business combination.
• Quantumsphere Acquisition (QUMS) opened on August 6 at $10.02. The blank check company said its efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region.

PERFORMANCE:
Prices as of 10.00 am ET on Monday, August 4

• Heartflow – up almost 3% at $29.59;
• Avidbank Holdings – fractionally up at $23.20;
• Etoiles Capital – down 2.50% at $4.76;
• DarkIris – down over 28% at $3.92;
• FireFly Aerospace – up about 3.5% at $51.96;
• WhiteFiber – up more than 8% at $16.58;
• C1 Fund – down 1% at $9.58;
• CTW Cayman – down almost 17% at $.27.

RECENT IPOS TO WATCH: Majestic Ideal (MJID), Aura Minerals (AUGO), K-Tech Solutions (KMRK) and Robot Consulting (LAMR) are among stocks that could see new coverage this week as the quiet periods for banks that underwrote the companies’ IPOs expire.

UPCOMING IPOS: Upcoming IPO and direct listings expected include Black Rock Coffee, Bullish (BLSH), Hengguang (HGIA), and Center Mobile (CTMB).

Click here to see upcoming IPO calendar on TipRanks.

Black Rock Coffee Bar has filed confidentially for an initial public offering in New York that could value the cafe chain at more than $1B, according to four people familiar with the matter, Reuters’ Abigail Summerville and Echo Wang report. Smaller coffee chains with loyal customers have been taking share from larger players such as Starbucks, the authors note. Another regional chain, Scooter’s Coffee, is exploring a sale that could value it at close to $1B, Reuters reported this month.

Bullish, the cryptocurrency exchange that counts Peter Thiel as an investor, has filed to go public on NYSE under the ticker symbol “BLSH.”

Hengguang has filed with the SEC for an initial public offering of its Class A ordinary shares and reserved the symbol “HGIA” for purposes of listing the Class A ordinary shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market. D. Boral Capital is acting as the underwriter. The prospectus states, “Heng Guang Cayman is a holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands with no material operations. As a holding company with no material operations of its own, Heng Guang Cayman conducts substantially all of the operations through Heng Guang Insurance or the VIE, the operating entity established in the People’s Republic of China, which has entered into a series of the VIE Agreements with WFOE, an indirect subsidiary of Heng Guang Cayman.”

Center Mobile has filed with the SEC for a firm commitment initial public offering of ordinary shares, via which it will be offering 3.75M ordinary shares. The company has applied to list its ordinary shares on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol (CTMB). R.F. Lafferty is listed as the underwriter. Its prospectus states, “We conduct all of our operations through our subsidiary in Japan, Center Mobile Japan and its subsidiary, Pay Storage… As a mobile virtual network operator, or ‘MVNO,’ we provide mobile connectivity and wireless communications services in Japan by using the infrastructure and communication system of NTT Docomo, one of the largest Japanese mobile network operators in terms of subscription market share… Because we do not own or operate a physical network or relevant appliances and equipment, we are free from related capital expenditures and, therefore, are able to focus our resources on providing competitive prices for our services against MNOs. Furthermore, in addition to the monthly fees from our customers, we are also able to generate advertising revenue through “PLAIO,” our proprietary app.”

Opening Day” is The Fly’s recurring series of stories on the latest initial public offerings, their performance, and upcoming IPOs.