Breaking news: Aconex cancels IPO

Just the day before it was due to publish its IPO prospectus, Melbourne-based SaaS construction collaboration technology vendor Aconex is reported to have cancelled the initial public offering planned for November. According to Bridget Carter in The Australian:

“… Aconex has cancelled plans for its initial public offering, despite its book build being covered within its pricing range. … it is understood that Aconex decided not proceed when it was told by its advisers that they were unlikely to secure sufficient demand to see the stock perform well during its debut on the Australian Securities Exchange.” [emphasis added]

Following the initial IPO announcement (July), there had subsequently been reports that potential investors had been nervous about its post-IPO offshore expansion plans (see my 15 October update to this post).

Updates (28 October 2014) – Aconex is not alone in cancelling ASX IPOs – two others (ArcPac and Hirepool) were also shelved just prior to anticipated listings (link).
(29 October 2014) – It appears there is a crowded calendar of potential IPOs, and this is giving fund managers concerns about the quality of the stocks on offer; the Australian Business Review says:

“That nervousness was underlined earlier this week when … Aconex pulled the plug on its IPO after receiving a tepid response in its institutional bookbuild. Ironically, Aconex had increased its offer size from a minimum of $120 million to $232 million after it sensed strong investor demand.

That, however, did not translate into strong bids in the bookbuild, with the offer understood to have been covered at the lower end of the price range. It is not clear yet if Aconex has cancelled its IPO altogether, or put it on hold.”