Artini China IPO Review

Recently, the news was about the Italian Fashion House, Prada going for an IPO. Now, a company from China in the business of fashion accessories is planning to come out with an IPO or initial public offer.
The company is Artini China Company Limited.

What is the price band of Artini China IPO?
The price band of Artini China IPO is 2.22 to 3.43 HKD or Hong Kong Dollars.

What is the size of the Artini China IPO?
A total of 280 millions shares will be offered for sale through the Artini China IPO.

How much capital will be raised through the Artini China IPO?
As per the price range, the Artini China IPO is expected to raise around 960 million HKD.

What are the IPO subscription dates for Artini China IPO?
The IPO will open fro subscription on May 2nd, 2008.

When will the shares of Artini China IPO be listed on stock exchanges?
The shares of Artini China IPO will be listed on Hong Kong stock exchange on May 16th, 2008.

What is the business of Artini?
As per the news on Forbes, Artini's products include fashion jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings and accessories items such as watches, belts and hair accessories.
It operates a retail distribution network to sell fashion accessories under the Artini and Q'ggle brands in China, Hong Kong and Macau.
The company opened its first retail store in Hong Kong in 2003, and commenced China retail operations in 2006.
As of end-March this year, it owned 33 retail stores and 97 concessions in China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Where will the capital raised from Artini China IPO be used?
The company said it will use the IPO proceeds to expand its China retail network by opening 118 new retail points in China's first- and second-tier cities in 2009. It will expand production capacity of its existing plant by 50 pct and also buy a new production facility by the end of 2010. The IPO money will also be used marketing and promotion of the Artini and Q'ggle brands.

What are the business valuations and financial result & expectations from Artini China IPO? The company propose dividend payout ratio of 25 pct. It forecast a net profit of at least 110 mln hkd for 2008, up 50 pct from last year.

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APAC Coal IPO Review

A new IPO is expected to hit the Australian markets very soon. Very recently, there was the Iron Roads IPO (Read Review), which made the headlines in Australia. This time, there is a new IPO or initial Public offering from the energy segment.

Explorer APAC Coal Ltd is expected to come out with an IPO to raise around $15 million through an initial public offer.

Where will the APAC Coal IPO Proceeds be used?
The capital raised from APAC Coal IPO will be used to to fund the development of a thermal coal mine in Indonesia. The working capital will also enable the company to mine, fund exploration activities and also take advantage of acquisition opportunities as they arise

What are the business valuations of the APAC Coal Company?
APAC Coal's flagship project is located in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, and contains a resource of 5.1 million tonne's of thermal coal, which is used to fuel power stations.

How many shares will be sold in APAC Coal IPO? OR what is the size of APAC Coal IPO?
APAC Coal plans to sell 75 million shares

What is the price of the APAC Coal IPO shares?
The APAC Coal IPO shares are priced at 20 cents per share.

What will be total amount of capital raised from the APAC Coal IPO?
Around $15 million is expected to be raised through the APAC Coal IPO.

Any other news from APAC Coal IPO?
As per the news from SMH, "APAC Coal has entered into an exciting phase of its development and with the capital from the IPO proceeds we will be able to produce thermal coal from the new mine which is currently in the pre-production phase," chairman Paul Piercy said in a statement.

Mr Piercy said the coal would be sold principally into the domestic energy market with the intent to enter the international export market "very quickly". "The prices of thermal coal have also been very buoyant with prices reaching over $US120 per tonne from an earlier base price of $US25 per tonne," he added.

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Reliance Power Results: invests money in Mutual Funds

There is some news for the shareholders of Reliance Power shares. In the recently reported results by the Reliance Power Company, it reported that more than 98% of the money raised through the Reliance Power IPO has been invested in Mutual Funds.

Now I don’t know what to say – whether it is a good investment or a bad investment. Good, because investments in mutual funds have helped the Reliance Power company earn a profit of around 94 Crore Rs. Bad, because this is how the investors money is betted upon. Is this what investors have given the money to the Reliance Power Management for?

Interestingly, Reliance Power has not revealed which mutual funds the money has been invested. So, investors are completely blind about whether their invested money has been betted upon infrastructure related funds, or growing economy funds, or simply put into bonds based funds.

Through the IPO, a total of 11,562 Crores were raised. Out of which, 11412.81 Crores were invested in Mutual funds. That’s exactly 98.8% of the money. On this investment, the company managed to get a net return of 94.6 Crores. That’s a meager return of just 0.83%. What more can you expect from a Zero Watt Power Company, which is expected to produce real power only after 3 to 5 years. It is we investors who betted upon this stock.

The IPO offer document says that the company “intends to invest the funds from the issue in interest bearing liquid instruments including deposits with banks and investments in mutual funds. These investments may include investments in mutual funds managed or financial products sold by one of our affiliates, RCL (Reliance Capital).”

As per the news, The company has spent only Rs 25.83 crore as of March 31, 2008 in construction and development of its various projects. That’s a mere 0.22% of the IPO money actually invested.

Let’s see when actually this company produces real power and when will the investors be able to get the returns on investments. Fortunately, the book closure and record dates for the allotment date for Reliance Power Bonus shares have been finalized! (Click to know the dates). So investors can now expect to receive the bonus shares.

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NWR IPO: Changes to IPO issue

Initially, we had presented the review of the NWR IPO or New World Resources IPO from the Czech Republic. There have been minor changes to the IPO proceedings. The details are as under:

NWR said in a statement institutional bookbuilding, which started on April 23, will close on May 2 instead of May 7. Retail subscription in the Czech Republic and Poland will close on May 5 instead of May 6.

It also said conditional dealings on the London Stock Exchange would be launched on May 6, instead of May 8.

Trading should start on May 6 in Prague and on or about May 12 in Warsaw, compared with previously announced dates of May 9 and May 14, respectively.

Other details of the IPO such as the price range remained unchanged, NWR said.

The price range has been set at 10.75 to 13.25 pounds per share and the offering would value the entire company at 2.8 to 3.5 billion pounds. Let’s see how this IPO performs in the markets.

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American Capital IPO Review

One more IPO is slated to enter the US markets. In these turbulent times, when the financial markets across the globe are witnessing huge volatility, a financial investment firm has come out with an IPO plan.


The Maryland-based investment firm American Capital Agency Corporation, which is a 100% subsidiary of American Capital Strategies Ltd. (ACAS), is coming out with an IPO or initial public offer.

What is the size of the American Capital IPO?
Around 12.5 million shares will be offered for sale through the American Capital IPO.

What is the price of American Capital IPO share?
The American Capital IPO shares are offered at the price of $20 per share.

How much capital will be raised through the American Capital IPO?
The American Capital IPO is expected to raise around 250 million dollars from the IPO.

Which exchange will the American Capital IPO shares be listed?
Post IPO, the shares of American Capital IPO will be listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange with the symbol “AGNC”.

How will the capital raised or IPO proceeds be used for American Capital IPO?
The proceeds from the offering will be invested in single-family residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations.
Who are the underwriters and book runners of the American Capital IPO issue?
The book runners for the offering will be Citi and Merrill Lynch, while Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley will act as joint lead managers. Undertakers will be granted a 30-day option to buy up to 1.88 million shares at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments.

Any other listing from the group?

Yes, the parent company, American Capital Strategies Ltd. (ACAS), is already listed on the stock exchange. Shares of ACAS are trading at $31.48, up $0.37 or 1.19%, on a volume of 1.11 million. Let’s see how this IPO performs in the markets once it opens up for subscription.

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Nexsan IPO Review

Another IPO filing is in place. A provider of storage arrays, Nexsan has filed for an IPO or Initial Public offering with the securities and exchange commission of USA.


What is the business of Nexsan?
Nexsan is in the business of providing business solutions for enterprise storage arrays. Nexsan develops storage arrays that use serial ATA (SATA) disk drive and RAID technology, for iSCSI and Fibre Channel storage area networks.

How much capital will be raised by Nexsan IPO?
Nexsan IPO is expected to raise capital in the range of around 81 million dollar.

Where will Nexsan IPO shares be listed post IPO?
Nexsan IPO shares will be listed on NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol “NXSN”.

Who are the underwriters of the Nexsan issue?
The IPO is being underwritten by Thomas Weisel Partners, Lazard Capital market, Needham & Company, and Morgan Keegan & Company.

What are the financial results and business valuations of Nexsan?
As per the news, Nexsan reported that it had a loss of $3.0M on revenues of almost $49.8M in its fiscal 2007. The firm is venture backed by VantagePoint Venture Partners, RRE, Gen-e Servicos de Consultoria SA, and others.

Verso Paper plans to offer shares with the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol “NXSN”. Let’s see how this IPO performs in the markets once it opens up for subscription.

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Verso Paper IPO Review

Another IPO filing has been done. The Memphis based Verso Paper Corporation is expected to come out with its proposed IPO or initial public offer.

What is the business of Verso Paper Corp?
Verso Paper Corp. is in the business of providing coated paper to magazine publishers.

What is the size of Verso Paper IPO?
Verso Paper IPO is planning to sell approximately 19 million shares through its IPO.

What is the price band of Verso Paper IPO?
The Verso Paper IPO share price is expected to be between $16 and $18 per share.

How much capital will be raised through Verso Paper IPO?
Verso's market capitalization will range from $908.7 million to $1.02 billion and the company expects to raise about $295.8 million from the IPO after fees.

What are the financial results and business valuations of Verso Paper IPO?
Verso reported net sales of $1.63 billion in 2007 along with a loss of $115 million.

Verso Paper plans to offer shares with the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “VRS”. Let’s see how this IPO performs in the markets once it opens up for subscription.

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Rackspace IPO Review

A new IPO is coming to the US markets. Rackspace Incorporated, which is in the business of providing of Internet hosting services, is planning to come out with its IPO or initial public offer.


It has recently registered with the SEC or Securities and Exchange Commission of USA, to get the approval for the IPO.

What is the size of RackSpace IPO?
RackSpace IPO has not directly did disclosed the expected size or price range of the planned IPO, but indicated the offering price may total up to $400 million, as per the filing with the SEC. Though these prices are indicative and may change at a later stage.

What are the financial results and business valuations of Rackspace IPO?
As per the news from Chron, In 2007, Rackspace reported a profit of $17.8 million on revenue of $362 million. At the end of the year, the company said it served over 29,000 business customers.

Where will the capital raised and IPO proceeds of Rackspace IPO be used?
Primarily for growth and business expansion. Rackspace plans to use proceeds from the IPO to finance its growth plans, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes. The company also may repay debt or make acquisitions.

Who are the underwriters for Rackspace IPO?
Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse Securities and Merrill Lynch are serving as the IPO's lead underwriters. W.R. Hambrecht and E-Trade Securities are also underwriting the offering.

The company plans to use an auction process to determine the initial public offering price. Rackspace also said that certain stockholders will offer some of the shares in the IPO.

Rackspace plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "RAX." Let’s see how this IPO performs in the markets once it opens up for subscription.

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Pyramid Saimira IPO

Pyramid Saimira was in news recently when Indiabulls took over its retail stores. Now, the Pyramid Saimira group is expected to come out with an IPO or initial public offer, for listing its films production unit on the stock exchanges.

The company is called Pyramid Saimira Production International Limited.

When will the Pyramid Saimira IPO hit the markets?
The news is that Pyramid Saimira will be filing the draft prospectus in 3 to4 months time with SEBI. The IPO will be open shortly after that.

How much money is expected to be raised by the Pyramid Saimira IPO?
Around 1800 Crore Rs. are planned to be raised through the Pyramid Saimira IPO.

What is the size of Pyramid Saimira IPO?
The Pyramid Saimira IPO will sell around 25% stake through the book building process.

Related: Shahrukh Khan’s IPO: Red Chillies Entertainment IPO & Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund Review

What are the business plans of Pyramid Saimira Production International Limited?
The company today also announced to invest Rs 2,500 crore across different verticals for expansions in the domestic and overseas markets this year.
The film production unit plans to produce over 50 films this year with a total budget of about Rs 600 crore.
Pyramid Saimira has 11 group companies across different verticals in entertainment and media, like film production, distribution and exhibition, TV serial production, radio stations, advertisement, gaming and animation, food and beverages among others.

Any other offerings from the Pyramid Saimira group?
As of now, only the group holding company Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd is the only publicly listed entity on the stock exchanges at present. They are planning to list all the group companies by 2010, provided the market conditions are good.

Let’s see how this IPO performs in the markets once it opens up for subscription.

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Mayfair Hotel IPO

Recently, it was the Pride hotels group which was planning to come out with its Pride Hotel IPO (Read Review). Now, another Hotel chain is set to enter the primary market and list on the Indian Stock Exchanges.


Mayfair group, the biggest hotel chain in eastern India, is planning to raise Rs 250 crore through the initial public offering and private equity routes to expand its activities further in the region in the next two years.

What is the size of Mayfair IPO?
The Mayfair Hotel IPO is expected to raise 250 crore Rs. through the IPO.

How will the required capital be raised for Mayfair IPO?
The IPO will help raising Rs 117 crore, private equity will bring in another Rs 40 crore.

How many shares will be offered through the Mayfair Hotels IPO?
The group, which has a total of 1.52 crore shares of face value Rs 10 each, will dilute upto 40-45 % of its stake.

Where does the assets, business valuation & financial results of Mayfair Hotel group stand?
As per the FinancialExpress, Mayfair is proposing to immediately develop a property in Gangtok. The 48-acre property has been taken on lease from the former chief minister of Sikkim, Nar Bahadur Bhandari. A 5-star deluxe spa resort will come up on about 15 acres with facilities for online casino.
In Orissa, the group has acquired 100 acres in Sipakuda village on the shore of the Chilika Lake to develop a 5-start deluxe resort of international standard with golf course and helipad. It is also planning to set up a new hotel in Cuttack, while undertaking repair, renovation and replacements (RRR) of its existing hotels in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Rourkela.

What are the future plans of the company and where will the IPO proceeds be used?
"By 2010, we want to develop at least 11 projects spread over eight locations to continue our leadership position in the eastern region, said group chairman Dilip Ray. According to him, the group hotels would have a total of 576 rooms by then.
Mayfair is also looking at acquiring a hotel in Hyderabad and converting it into a 5-star one.

The company has bought two properties in Darjeeling, where it already has a hotel. It is also looking for a plot at Rajarhat in Kolkata and another in Siliguri. Let’s see how this IPO performs in the markets.

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Asia Cement IPO

Hong Kong is going to witness one more IPO in the near future.
The cement company, Asia Cement Corporation is set to come out with its IPO or Initial Public Offering.

What is the expected size of Asia Cement IPO?
Asia Cement will be selling around 345 million shares through its IPO.

What is the price range of Asia Cement IPO?
The Asia Cement IPO price range is set to HK$ 4.85 to 6.45 per share

When will the Asia Cement IPO open for subscription?
Asia Cement IPO will accept IPO application between May 5 and May 8. Listing will be on May 20, 2008.

What are the business valuations and background of Asia Cement?
Asia Cement Corp, the spinoff of Taiwanese conglomerate Far Eastern Group. Asia Cement is expected to raise aroung HK $2.25 through the IPO.

Let’s see how this IPO performs in the markets.

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Morocco Delta IPO Review

A new IPO is coming to the Moroccan stock markets. Delta Holding SA, a Moroccan diversified industrial company, is planning to come out with its IPO.

What is the planned capital to be raised by Delta IPO?
The Morocco based Delta IPO is planning to raise 130 million dollars.

What is the size of the Delta IPO?
The Delta IPO from Morocco will be listing 23.3% shares on the Casablanca Stock market. The IPO size for Delta IPO will be 1.02 million shares out of the total of 4 million shares. 65 percent of the shares in Delta's IPO have been reserved for institutions.

What is the business of Morocco Based Delta IPO?
The family-controlled firm, has a highly diversified portfolio of services. It has business interests ranging from public works, signalling and irrigation to metals and property.

How much capital is expected to be raised by the Delta IPO?
Delta plans to raise between 887 and 938 million dirhams by selling 1.02 million of its 4 million shares for between 870 and 920 dirhams.

When will the Delta IPO open for subscritption?
The Delta IPO will accept IPO applications from April 24 to May 2, 2008.

What is the business history of Delta IPO?

Delta has not paid dividends for the last three years as it seeks to reinforce its capital. This year it expects to distribute half of its net profits, which rose to 99.9 million dirhams last year from 84.45 million in 2006.

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Asiasoft IPO Review

Asiasoft Corporation in Thailand is planning to come out with its IPO or Initial Public offering. It is in the business of providing online entertainment.


What is the size of Asiasoft IPO?
A total of 75 million shares will be offered for sale through the IPO.

What is the subscription date for Asiasoft IPO?
The Asiasoft IPO will open for subscription from May 20 to May 22. The listing will be on The Stock exchange of Thailand.

Where will the Asiasoft IPO proceeds be used?
According the BangkokPost, Funds raised from the IPO are supposed to be used to expand its online game business, particularly in Malaysia and Vietnam, and to procure more online game licences.
Some portion will also be used to improve the IT infrastructure and add to the workling capital of the Asiasoft company.
Also, in the next two years, the Asiasoft plans to expand its business to Indonesia and the Philippines by offering twelve online games services in four countries, comprising of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

What are the financial results and business valuations of Asiasoft IPO?
Asiasoft reported net profits of 254 million baht on revenues of 1.55 billion, up from profits of 128 million on revenues of 1.05 billion the previous year. Overseas revenues are expected to rise to 55% of total sales from 46% last year.

What are the risks or drawbacks for investment in Asiasoft IPO?
The biggest risk is of competition. Though in the local market, it may be a leader. However, it has to compete fiercely on global front, where the IPO proceeds be used.

Where does the Asiasoft business stand right now?
As of now, the Asiasoft's business covers five categories: online games, computers and online game distribution, an online game pre-paid card distributor, a game portal, online advertisement and online games development.
It operates five companies in Southeast Asia including Asiasoft Online Pte, an online game provider in Singapore and Malaysia; Asiasoft International, an investment company; Playpal, a PC and online game developer; Playpark, providing game portal services, banner advertising at playpark.com; and Asiasoft Online Sdn, which supports Asiasoft Online Pte for game providers and prepaid card distribution in Malaysia.
The company has a 59.6% share in Thailand's online game market; 69.8% in Singapore, 21.2% in Malaysia and 15.8% in Vietnam.

Any new business plans for the company? Remaining in its own domain the Asiasoft company planned to launch three or four online games this year after launching two games in 2007.

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Gokul Refoils & Solvent IPO Review

A new IPO is there for the Indian markets. Gokul Refoils and Solvent is planning to come put with its IPO or Initial Public offering.

When will the Gokul Refoils and Solvent IPO open for subscription?
The Gokul Refoils and Solvent IPO will be opening on May 8, 2008. It will close on May 13.

What is the size of Gokul Refoils and Solvent IPO?
A total of around 71.6 lakhs equity shares will be offered to the public through the 100% book building process. The shares will be listed on both NSE and BSE.

What is the price band of the Gokul Refoils and Solvent IPO?
The price band for Gokul Refoils and Solvent IPO is set in the range of Rs. 175 to 195 per share. The face value of each share will be Rs. 10.

Is there any quota for employees for Gokul Refoils and Solvent IPO?
Yes, around 75,000 shares will be reserved for the employees. The remaining, around 70 lakhs shares will be offered to the public. The total public standing post IPO will be a little above 27%.
Qualified institutional buyers shall be allocated 50 per cent of the issue. From and out of the QIB portion 5 per cent for mutual funds, 15 per cent to non-institutional bidders and 35 per cent to retail investors.

What is the business of the Gokul Refoils and Solvent Company?
As per Economic Times, The company is primarily engaged in the business of solvent extraction, refining of edible oils and vanaspati manufacturing. At present the company has 680 TPD of seed processing, 600 TPD of solvent extraction, 1200 TPD of refining and 200 TPD of vanaspati manufacturing capacities.

Where will the Gokul Refoils and Solvent IPO proceeds be used?
The company plans to utilize the proceeds for - setting up a new 1500 TPD Soyabean processing plant near Gandhidham, Gujarat; expansion of the existing edible oil refinery at Surat; investment in Singapore subsidiary; funding part of the long term working capital; brand building activities; investment in increasing warehousing capacities and continuous capex for exising units; general corporate purposes and for public issue expenses.

What is the rating for Gokul Refoils and Solvent IPO?
ICRA has assigned "3 out of 5" grading to the Gokul Refoils and Solvent IPO.

The book running lead managers to the issue are Anand Rathi and Intensive Financial Services.

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Banks Inflation & Interest Rates

RMathew has posted a nice article on his blog, mentioning that the Interest earned on the savings bank account should be exempted from tax, as the interest rate earned in the savings bank account is way below the rate of inflation.
To understand the concept, here is a simple example.
You have a savings bank account with XYZ bank. The bank pays you an interest of 3.5% per annum, as per the RBI or Reserve Bank of India policies.

Imagine you have 100 Rs. as spare for a year. You have 2 options:
1) Put the money in your savings bank account and let it earn 3.5% rate for 1 year. So at the end of the year, you will get 103.5 Rs. as returns

2) Use that money to buy something you need, say half a kilo of tea leaves. You may not use the tea leaves immediately, but after 6 months to 1 year, you may use it.

Now, the interesting case is with the inflation. Inflation measures the dearness or Mehengaai (Hindi). So, if the rate of inflation is 7%, then what costs 100 Rs. today, may cost 107 Rs. a year later, OR to be more precise, the present price as compared to last years price has increased by 7%, as inflation is measured on historical values.

Coming back to the example above, suppose you put your money in the bank and take out 103.5 Rs. a year later. You will find that the tealeaves that you could have bought for just 100 Rs. a year before are no more affordable, even with the 103.5 Rs. because due to inflation, the price has increased to 107 Rs.

Hence, this brings us to the concept of Real v/s nominal interest rates:
Real Interest Rate = Nominal Interest Rate – Inflation

What the bank is providing is only Nominal Interest rate (3.5%). What you actually get, in terms of purchasing power, is the Real Interest rate. In the above example, the Real interest rate will be negative, as Nominal – inflation = 3.5% - 7% = -3.5%

Hence, in essence the money you deposit is loosing value for purchasing power, due to inflation.
Moreover, even though you are earning nominal interest, you have to pay tax on it. So 30% of 3.5% is 1.05%. Therefore, after tax, all you get is just 2.45% which is well below the inflation figure of 7%!
Mathew is expecting the government to stop charging interest rate on this nominal value earning, as it is not a real profit. He also suggests that the money should not be kept in the savings bank accounts, but should be invested.

However, the question is about certainty. Today, everyone is talking about inflation, because it is high at 7%. While it was down at 3.5% to 4%, no one noticed that. Government cannot make a period based ruling, that if inflation is higher than the interest rate, then tax will not be charged. It all depends upon the market timing and that works randomly.

What can the investors do to fight such indirect losses?

Unfortunately, there is no sure shot way to fight inflation. Countries like Zimbabwe, which are witnessing a crisis have seen inflation at the rate of 20000% in one single year, if you want to talk about the extreme cases. However, the best bet is to keep money in Fixed Deposits, or get into tax saving infrastructure bonds, as explained in this article: Are we using the banks account effectively?

Unfortunately, there is no such thing like sure to get money – even with the bank rates. The Fixed deposit bank rates change ever now and then.

Though they are less volatile, but changes are expected. Don’t expect the government to do anything – you know who are sitting to make laws for citizens.

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What’s going on on this site?

It has been quite sometime now and loads of articles were published on this blog. However, in the past few weeks, there seems to be a lot of change in the entries and publication of articles in this blog.

To indicate that, my faithful readers like Chaitanya and Shashi, who have been with this blog since a long time, have provided their comments on the new happenings on this blog. Their common complain is that now this blog hosts only news items and financial details, and seems that the blog has lost the unique touch that existed in the previous articles.
Hence, I thought it would be nice to explain certain things to the readers : -)

OK, now let me tell you what is happening.
First, I’m NOT a professional blogger. I blog for sharing my thoughts and sometimes become a bit greedy about earnings from adsense ads. However, the earnings are inconsistent and vary from $1 to $3 or sometimes a bit higher.

I have a full time paid job and my job requires me to keep travelling across the globe. Hence, whenever I get time, I attempt to put up a nice and unique post.

Then why are there so many posts about news items for IPOs and fund offers everyday?
Blogs work on freshness. The day I do not publish anything, the traffic comes down drastically because Search engines like Google keep on looking for fresh contents on blogs (That’s the difference between a blog and a website). If Google does not find anything new on a blog, it usually takes it as an obsolete entry and the ranking comes down. So I’ve been joined by a qualified friend on investments, who is based in India and is helping me in posting the news items about the new fund offer and reviews of upcoming IPOs.

Am I doing it to earn money?
Yes and No.

Yes, because sometimes I become optimistic that my adsense earnings might increase, (which unfortunately are not increasing : -( and staying stagnant in the range of $1 to $3 and now I have my friend to share the earnings).

NO because knowledge sharing is still the motive of this blog and I want to assist individuals in understanding the complexities and hidden truths about the stock market working and investments in insurance policies. I still want readers to come to my site and read through my best articles which are listed on “Table of Contents” page. The day I stop posting articles, the blog will no longer be getting a good ranking on search engines, hence some content is required on a daily basis.

So what have I come up with?
Keep it simple. The IPO/ NFO/ Finance News sections will be provided daily. The content will be provided by my friend; I will be reviewing it, making changes and necessary additions and finally posting the article.

I will also be writing articles in my usual tone, to explain the things that I usually enjoy. Whether it is entering the stock markets, buying insurance policies, whether ETF’s and index funds are best bet or whatever. But as I have a full paid job and I travel extensively, I may not be able to provide a unique post everyday.

What is the use of all this?
Posting new content will ensure that search engines have good ranking for the site. However, the Table of contents lists only the selected articles, which I want all the readers to read. That’s why on all pages, I compulsorily provide a link to TOC, not to any and all kinds of articles.

What do I get out of all this?
Nothing, but pure satisfaction. Some people smoke, play games, do pastime in various forms. I enjoy this hobby and I want to keep it popular : -)

Do let me know your thoughts and your expectations, if any.

Colfax IPO Review

A new IPO is coming up on the NYSE stock exchange. The IPO belongs to Colfax corporation, which is in the business of manufacturing and marketing fluid handling products.


What is the price band of Colfax IPO?
The price for the Colfax IPO shares is in the price band of$15 to $17 per share.

What is the size of Colfax IPO?
Around 18.5 million shares will be sold through the Colfax IPO. The company said it plans to sell 7.8 million shares, while stockholders will sell an additional 10.9 million shares.

Who are the underwriters for the Colfax IPO issue?
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc, Lehman Brothers, UBS Securities, Robert W Baird & Co, Banc of America Securities, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc and KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc were underwriting the IPO. The underwriters have the option to buy up to 2.8 million shares to cover any over-allotments.

What are the business valuations and financial results of Colfax IPO?
The company posted net income of $64.9 million in 2007 compared with $94,000 in 2006. For the year ended 2007, net sales was $506.3 million compared with $393.6 million in 2006.

Where will the Colfax IPO proceeds be used?
It plans to use the proceeds to repay debt, pay dividends to preferred shareholders and for other corporate purposes. Colfax plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CFX".

Let’s see how this IPO performs once it is open for subscription in the market.

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New World Resources IPO Review (Czech Republic)

The energy demand is rising day by day and world resources for energy are depleting. Oil is touching record highs every day. So it’s time now to look for alternate sources of energy.

Coal forms a major portion of energy supply after oil. To capitalize upon the demand and supply gap, the European company in the Czech republic is coming out with its planned IPO or Initial Public Offering.

What is the price band of New World Resources IPO?
The New World Resources IPO is priced at £10.75 to £13.25 a share

How much capital will be raised by New World Resources IPO ?
The New World Resources IPO expects to raise around 1.1 billion pounds from the IPO

Where will the New World Resources IPO proceeds be used?
The IPO proceeds or capital raised from New World Resources IPO will be used to fund business expansion in Czech Republic and Poland.

When will the New World Resources IPO shares be listed?
The New World Resources IPO shares will be listed in early May in London.

How many shares will be offered in the New World Resources IPO?
Around 83 million shares or around 31.5 percent of total shares will be offered through the IPO. This will take the market cap of the New World Resources to around £2.8bn to £3.5bn

What are the business valuations and financial results of New World Resources?
As per the news from The Telegraph, the company said profits last year jumped 94pc to €196m (£157m), on revenues 10pc higher at €1.37bn.
The group wants to use around €200m from the IPO for two mining projects in Poland, as well as existing sites in the Czech Republic. The Polish government this week unveiled a four-year privatisation plan for the mining industry.
Demand is rising for hard coal, which can be used in power generation and the manufacture of iron and steel, mainly due to Asian requirements.

This will be the biggest ever IPO in the Czech Republic markets.
But as per the latest news, there are some changes to the New World Resources IPO. Please see the latest changes here.

Let’s see how this IPO performs once it is open for subscription in the market. Experts say one should definitely apply for this IPO as the energy needs are tremendous and demand supply gap is widening.

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ETF NFO: Wait to buy ETF in open market after listing

As per the news on certain financial websites, Investing in gold ETFs appears to be costlier during the new fund offer (NFO) period.
For example, the Gold Benchmark Exchange Traded Scheme, which was launched in February 2007, charged an entry load of 1.5 per cent and UTI Gold Exchange Traded Fund, launched in March 2007, charged 2.5 per cent. Investors can look for opportunities in these funds when they are listed on the stock exchanges for open trading to avoid the entry load in the NFO period.

Although investors are not required to pay an entry load while investing in listed gold ETFs, they have to pay a brokerage fee. Brokerage charges are similar to what is charged while investing in stocks — around 0.5 per cent of the transaction value. However, the charge varies from one broker to another.

A pre-requisite for investing in gold ETF is to have a demat and trading account with a broker. To maintain these accounts, investors have to pay annual charges. There is also the expense ratio, a recurring expense, attached with the fund. Both Gold BeES and UTI Gold ETF have an annual expense ratio of 1 per cent.

Related: Quantum Gold based ETF, Investing in Gold?, Example of ETF with calculations & AIG Gold Fund Review

The annual expenses such as storage, insurance, and management fees are charged by selling a small amount of gold represented by a certificate. The amount of gold in each certificate will gradually decline over time. Investors need to consider these charges before investing.

Hence, it would be advisable to wait for the NFO period for Gold based ETF to be over and then buy the shares of Gold ETF in the open markets.

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ULIP: are they a good investment?

Hundreds of ULIP policies are being sold in the market by thousands of agents. ULIP stands for Unit linked Insurance Plans.
People blindly buy these ULIP plans, hardly understanding anything about the ULIPs, their working, their charges & what will be the actual money invested for them.

In this article, let me tell it with an example.

Can ULIP be used as an investment vehicle to create wealth?
That’s a million dollar question, but looking at the cost and commission structure, the answer to the above question is NO.
The biggest drawback of ULIP is that they have very high initial charges. Remember, wealth can be created only when you start big with your investments and opt for compounded returns. Unfortunately in ULIPs, most of your initial invested money is eaten up in the name of commission and charges. All this happens in the initial years, hence you end up loosing on the compounded returns benefits.

Let’s take the example of Kotak Smart Advantage ULIP. Have a look at the commission structure and administrative charges of Kotak Smart Advantage ULIP. In Kotak Smart Advantage ULIP, entire amount of the first year premium would not get allocated at all for investments. This premium (according to the product brochure) would be used to provide you a guarantee of 100 per cent of first year premium if the policy term is 5 years. That means if you invest Rs 1 lakh nothing would actually be invested in equities in the first year.

This simply means that entire amount you give to the ULIP management, goes towards the charges. You can now yourself decide if this makes a good investment. I really don’t know whether there are any good ULIP plans in the market, as I have limited knowledge about the brand of ULIP products. Complex structures for commission and charges make it more difficult to understand.

I have always recommended people to avoid investments which they do not understand and I would recommend individuals to stay away from ULIP plans as well.

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AT&T lay-off: to fire 4600 employees

One more mega layoff is planned by another big company. AT&T Inc. plans to lay off 4,600, primarily of officer class or so called white collar employees, which constitute 1.5% of its work force.

The AT&T company management claims that the layoff plans are justified because of its decreasing landline phone business. What is more interesting is that the company plans to employ almost a same number of associates in the wireless, television and broadband services. Hence, the total employee count of AT&T will remain almost the same by the year-end.

As per the news on The Wall Street Journal, AT&T will take a first-quarter pretax charge of $374 million to cover severance costs related to the layoffs. The bulk of the jobs to go will be those of managerial employees in the landline businesses who don't deal with customers, Mr. Sharp said.

Related: AOL lay offs, Motorola Lay-off: Fires 2600 employees & Citibank Layoffs: fires employees

While the number of people AT&T plans to employ will remain the same in the year ahead, the job cuts could nonetheless result in substantial cost savings in the neighborhood of half a billion dollars, estimates Mr. Hodulik.

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AOL Lay off: AOL fires 100 employees in Web-Ad selling unit.

AOL or Time Warner controlled American Online services, has initiated the process of lay-off for around 100 employees in the Web Ad selling platform unit.
Though the company claims that the ad units are critical to the growth of the company, but the management sees a lot of duplication in the different ad units. The primary reason for this is attributed to many acquisitions the company has done over the past few months. These acquisitions have resulted in the duplicate things being performed across many ad units and these needs to be streamlined. Hence, the company is going on planning for lay-offs.

As per the news on Wall Street Jounral, The layoffs are part of an effort by Platform-A's new president, Lynda Clarizio, to overhaul the unit, which launched about seven months ago but has stumbled. Ms. Clarizio has been tapped to better integrate the seven ad-technology firms that AOL spent $1 billion to buy in recent years as part of its effort to build a one-stop shop for buying Web ads.
Related: Motorola Lay-off: Fires 2600 employees & Citibank Layoffs: fires employees

She has said the unit suffered from duplication among its sales, tech and other groups.

Hope that these the number of employees who are fired remains at 100.

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Epocrates IPO Review

More and more IPO filings are going on in the US markets. This time, a healthcare medical information provider company is planning to go public.

Epocrates is a provider of electronic medical info for healthcare practitioners. It is planning to come out with its IPO or initial public offering. The plans are to raise around 75 million USD through the Epocrates IPO.

What is the business of Epocrates?
Epocrates is in the business of providing medical information to doctors, hospitals and healthcare professionals in the electronic form. This is a business which is largely untapped, and has a lot of growth potential for future.
The company delivers clinical information and decision support tools to doctors, and places a heavy emphasis on mobile delivery. The service is designed for various handsets, including the iPhone and was one of the first companies to announce an iPhone application with Apple's blessing. An entire list of product offering from Epocrates is available on this link.

What is the amount of capital to be raised through Epocrates IPO?
The company expects to raise around 75 million USD through the Epocrates IPO.

Where will the shares be listed post Epocrates IPO
The share will be listed on NASDAQ stock exchange.

Related: Codexis IPO Review, American Water Workd IPO Review

What are the business valuations & financial results of Epocrates?
As per Washington Post, in 2007, the company had revenue of $65.6 million, up about 32 percent form the previous year. Net income was $7.3 million, compared to a loss of $4.3 million. In addition to its subscription services, the company also delivers sponsored content from marketers. Going forward, the company says, it plans to push its free content services more, diminishing the significance of subscriptions.

Who are the competitors of Epocrates?
Thomson Healthcare, Skyscape, & WebMD

The San Mateo, CA-based company was founded in 1998 and claims Sprout Group, Interwest Partners, Three Arch Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Bay City Capital and Goldman Sachs as investors.

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Depa Limited IPO Review

A company primarily focused on the North African and Middle East markets is coming out with its planned IPO. Depa Limited, which is a primary provider of interior contracting services in the above mentioned markets, is coming out with its IPO.

What is the price of Depa Limited IPO shares?
Depa Limited IPO shares are priced at $1.55 per share.

What is the price of Depa Limited GDR shares?
Depa Limited GDR or global depository receipts are priced at $7.75 per share.

What is the expected market capitalization of Depa Limited company?
Post IPO, at the given price valuations, the Depa Limited will be having a market cap of over 1 billion dollars.

How many shares will be offered for sale in the Depa IPO?
Depa Limited IPO will offer around 254 million shares through sale in IPO. Each GDR will represent 5 shares. They also come with an over allotment option of upto 25.5 million shares.

How much money is expected to be raised from Depa Limited IPO?
Depa hopes to raise around $432 million from the IPO.

Where will the shares of Depa Limited IPO be listed?
Shares of Depa Limited IPO will be listed on the Dubai International Financial Exchange, while the GDRs will be admitted on the official list of the London Stock Exchange.

Where will the Depa Limited IPO proceeds be used? Depa said it hopes to raise $432 million from the offer which it will mainly use to finance acquisitions.

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Tap Water Supply (TTW) IPO Review

One more IPO in the Thailand market, this time it is from the utility sector. Like the American Water Works IPO (Read Review) the Thai utility firm Tap Water Supply (TTW) is planning to come out with its IPO or initial public offering, to sell its shares through the book building process in the primary markets.

When will the Tap Water Supply (TTW) open for IPO subscription?
The Tap Water Supply (TTW) IPO will open in may 2008.

How much stake will be sold through the Tap Water Supply (TTW) IPO?
Around 25% os the company’s stake will be sold through the Tap Water Supply (TTW) IPO.

How many shares will be sold through the Tap Water Supply (TTW) IPO?
Around 1 billion shares, which will include 700 million new shares and 300 million shares of existing shareholders.

How much capital would be raised from the Tap Water Supply (TTW) IPO?
As per the estimates, the Tap Water Supply (TTW) IPO could raise around 3 to 4 billion Thai Bhat or (95 to 125 million USD)

Where will the Tap Water Supply (TTW) IPO proceeds be used?
The purpose of the Tap Water Supply (TTW) IPO is to use the capital raised to repay the debts.

Where does the business valuation of Tap Water Supply (TTW) stand right now?
TTW, majority-owned by construction firm Ch Karnchang CK.BK, would conclude the IPO price range by the end of this week.

Related: Esso IPO Review

TTW has a 30-year contract to supply tap water to Nakhon Pathom and Samut Sakorn provinces near Bangkok. Subsidiary Pathum Thani Water has a 25-year contract to supply tap water to Pathum Thani province, north of the capital.

Let’s see how this Tap Water Supply (TTW) IPO performs in the Thai stock markets.

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Iron Road IPO Review: Iron Ore IPO

One relatively small iron ore company of Australia is planning to come out with an IPO or Initial Public offering.
The company is Iron Road Limited is expected to collect something in the range of $5 million ahead of its planned listing on the Australian stock exchange. The Iron Road IPO is expected in June 2008.

When will the Iron Road IPO open?
The Iron Road IPO will open on Monday, April 28 till May 26

What is the size of Iron Road IPO?
The Iron Road IPO plans to sell around 25 million shares.

What is the price of the Iron Road IPO shares?
The shares of Iron Road IPO will be offered at a price of 20 cents each.

When will the shares of Iron Road IPO be listed on the Australian Stock exchange?
The shares of Iron Road IPO will be listed on 9th June

What is the business valuation of Iron Road IPO ?
As per the SMH News, the iron ore assets of diversified South Australian explorer Adelaide Resources Ltd have been sold into the soon to be floated company, so it can focus on its copper, gold, mineral sand and uranium prospects in SA and the Northern Territory.

Former Shell, Santos and Telstra executive Dr John McKee will chair Iron Road.
The company's most promising asset is its wholly owned Warramboo iron ore project on the Eyre Peninsula in SA, where iron grades of 70.4 per cent have been encountered.

The company has earmarked $2.4 million for exploration at the project in the first two years. The IPO is scheduled to close on May 26 and no oversubscriptions will be accepted, ahead of a planned June 9 listing.

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ICICI Securities IPO

One more IPO can be expected vary soon in the Indian markets, provided the stock market conditions are good.
ICICI Bank, which is the largest private sector bank in India, may come out with an IPO for its investment banking division based unit, called ICICI Securities.

"We will look at it (IPO of ICICI Securities) based on market condition," Kamath, the heads of ICICI bank was saying, as per the news published in the Economic Times.

At present, there is no particular hurry to list the shares of the company, he said.

Interestingly, the board of ICICI securities in January has already approved of the IPO and selling of shares to private investors and institutional investment banks and firms.

At that time, the news was that the IPO will be available in the market within 6 months time. However, looking at the dismal performance of the big stalwart IPOs like the Reliance Power IPO and EMaar MGF IPO cancellation, the officials thought otherwise. However, the market situation is improving, hence the company may like to list the IPO in this quarter. Even Emaar MGF is said to come out with its IPO again

The board had decided to sell around 15 per cent of its shares to retail or institutional investors.

ICICI Securities having an equity capital of Rs 61 crore is a major player in retail broking and has posted revenues of Rs 527 crore during the first nine months of the current fiscal while profits were at Rs 108 crore in the same period.

Let’s see how this IPO from ICICI securities perform and when does it hit the primary markets.

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Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund Review

A new fund based upon the Banking sector is launched by Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
The entire exposure of this fund will be in the BFSI or Banking and Financial Service sector. The name of the fund is Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund. In this article, I will attempt to highlight the good and bad of this fund and whether one should invest in BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund.

What is the NFO period for Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund?
The NFO for BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund will is presently open and will close on May 14, 2008.

Which benchmark index will Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund be tracking?
The BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund will be tracking the CNX Bank Index

Where will the Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund invest?
The BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund will primarily focus on investing in stocks of PSU banks, private banks like ICICI, HDFC, etc. and other financial services companies which may also include insurance companies, brokerage firms, mutual fund AMC and exchanges.

How will the investment pattern be for Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund?
65 to 100 percent of the capital allocated will be invested to equity instruments of the BFSI sector. The remaining 35 to 0 percent may be held as cash or can be invested in other sectors, as the need arises.

What investment options are available in Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund?
Three options are available
• Dividend Payout
• Dividend Reinvestment
• Growth
These options are available to both institutional and retail investors.

Entry Load and Exit Load charges for Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund ?
Standard Entry load of 2.25 per cent will be applicable on investments of less than Rs 2 crore. No entry load will be charged on investment equal to or more than Rs 2 crore

Related: Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund Review

Assumptions of the Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund?
The fund managers give the following criteria “Due to growing aspiration levels among young Indians who constitute 70 per cent of the population and are multiplying their earnings level, BFSI sector is anticipated to grow. There is huge potential in this sector in India as it has a long way to go in comparison to other economies like US, UK,” said Sunil Subramaniam, executive director - sales & marketing, Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management Company.

Any tax benefit available in Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund?
No tax benefit is available in Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund.

What are the risks of Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund?
The biggest risk is exposure only to the banking sector. Management can give its own justification and assumptions as stated above, but the biggest problem in the present time is that the banking sector is really struggling hard to fight the global recession. Inflation is at its peak, so are the interest rates are volatile. Coming out with such a bank specific fund is a bit risky.

Anyways, things work randomly. You can get a bargain in the recent turbulent times and make a fortune if luck is in your favour over the next 5-10 years investment horizon. Investors who are having faith in Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund Management can bet their money on it and pay the commission to the fund manager.

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Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund Review

A new fund based upon the Entertainment (Media sector) is launched by Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
The entire exposure of this fund will be in the Media sector in the beginning and may be it is later extended to companies related to sports and other recreational events. The name of the fund is BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund. In this article, I will attempt to highlight the good and bad of this fund and whether one should invest in BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund.

What is the NFO period for Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund?
The Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund will open for subscription on Aril 24 and close on May 20.

Which benchmark index will Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund be tracking?
The BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund will be tracking the CNX Bank Index S&P CNX Media and Entertainment Index.

Where will the Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund invest?
Initially, the Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund will invest in some niche media companies. For example, it may be Balaji Telefilms, Adlabs, etc. Probably that’s why there are many media IPO’s in making, like the Shahrukh Khan led Red Chillies Entertainment IPO. The fund will primarily focus on the entertainment and media industry sector. The fund may also invest in the global markets in the similar sector, as the need arises and valuations appear to be good.


What investment options are available in Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund?
Three options are available
• Dividend Payout
• Dividend Reinvestment
• Growth
These options are available to both institutional and retail investors.

Entry Load and Exit Load charges for Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund ?
Standard Entry load of 2.25 per cent will be applicable on investments of less than Rs 2 crore. No entry load will be charged on investment equal to or more than Rs 2 crore

Related: Sundaram BNP Paribas Financial Services Opportunities Fund Review

Any tax benefit available in Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund?
No tax benefit is available in Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund.

What are the risks of Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund?
The biggest risk is exposure only to the entertainment and media sector. Coming out with such a bank specific fund is a bit risky.

Anyways, things work randomly. Investors who are having faith in Sundaram BNP Paribas Entertainment Opportunities Fund Management can bet their money on it and pay the commission to the fund manager.

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Home Loan Rates to Rise: RBI hikes CRR

The government is more concerned about the elections, and inflation is the one which will decide whether the present government will come back to power once again or not.
So, taking strict measures so as to counter inflation, the RBI yesterday increased the CRR rate by 50 basis points or 0.5%, which will squeeze in 18,500 Crore Rupees from the market.

There were some good signs few months before, when major banks went for a rate cut giving respite to the home loan and other loan payers. But it seems that this period of low interest rates was short lived.

It appears an almost certainty that the loan rates for various loans like home loan, car loan, two-wheeler loan, education loan etc. are set to increase by anywhere between 0.25% to 0.75%.

Related: Home Loan: Fixed v/s Floating? , HDFC cuts home loan rates & Other banks rate cut (SBI, Canara, Union Bank)

Whether floating or fixed interest rate home loan, banks are quick to pass on the increased loan rates to the customers, as explained in this article.. However, the same is not true if the rates are reduced. Despite so many banks reducing the rates, ICICI bank, which is the largest private bank in the loan market, did not reduce the rates. It will anyways again increase the rate following the CRR increase.

The CRR would be hiked by 0.25 per cent from April 26 and by an identical percentage from May 10.
Year-on-year inflation, which was 3.83 per cent during the last credit policy in January, had gone up to 7.41 per cent on March 29 before marginally falling to 7.14 per cent on April 5.


The only hope that lies there is concerning the RBI meet on April 29th. If there is any control on inflation till then, then one can expect to see some respite. Bankers said the move was expected but would wait and watch the credit policy to be unveiled on April 29 before taking a call on interest rates. However, some of them felt they were left with very little option but to hike their rates with the cost of funds going up following the CRR increase.

Its once again the time of high inflation and low payouts. Personally, I was not at all happy with the mass pleasing budget, all it will do is worsen the economy.

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DigitalGlobe IPO Review

Some more technology stocks are willing to list on the stock markets. The latest on among them is the DigitalGlobe Inc.
It is a US based firm which is in the business of providing satellite imagery. It is learnt to have has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.

What is the business of DigitalGlobe?
DigitalGlobe is in a unique business. It owns and manages two satellites named QuickBird & WorldView-1. QucikBird was launched in 2001 while WorldView-1 was launched in 2007. Together these satellites are capable of collecting nearly one million square kilometers (more than France and Germany combined) of imagery per day with a resolution below one meter.

Who are the clients of DigitalGlobe?
Big names – Google is one of the premier clients for its Google Maps product. Also Microsoft pays them for Microsoft Virtual Earth. Other than that there are mobile operators like Garmin and Digital map maker Navteq.
The biggest client however, is the US government, which is the main source of revenue. Under the NextView program, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, or NGA, purchases earth imagery content and related solutions from commercial providers on behalf of various agencies within the U.S. government. US government represented 60% of DigitalGlobe's revenue in 2007 and other international intelligence agencies an additional 8%.
So that way, the company seems to be in a safe business.

Related: Rhino Resources IPO Review, Interpaid Potash IPO, GlobalTrans Investment IPO, NYSE Euronext Chine IPO,

Who are the competitors of DigitalGlobe?
Many organizations are in this business – both in US as well as in far off countries like India. GeoEye, SPOT Image, ImageSat International N.V. and the Indian National Remote Sensing Agency.

What are the financial results and valuations of DigitalGlobe?
As per GPS Business News, DigitalGlobe has been profitable since 2006 and from 2005 through 2007 its revenue grew at a compound annual growth rate of 52.3%. In 2007 the company generated revenue of $151.7 million and net income before tax of $37.9 million.

What are the risks while investing in DigitalGlobe IPO?
The market timings are not the best ones to come out with an IPO. Although, it has a completely different business.
Other risk is that US government may move to some other operator, or the scientists at NASA or other organization may find a better source for satellite imagery, then the DigitalGlobe may be out of business.

One advantage that DigitalGlobe has is a strategic partnership and a contract with the U.S. government as mentioned in its filing: “NGA's minimum earth imagery purchase commitment under the NextView agreement from January 2008 through the expiration of the agreement in July 2009 is $238.0 million, payable in increments of $12.5 million per month”. Investors can bet their money on this IPO from DigitalGlobe

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Rhino Resource Partners IPO Review

One more IPO in the US markets, this time from the coal mining and production company.
Rhino Resource Partners LP, which is a leading coal producer is coming out with its IPO or Initial Public offering. It is expecting to raise about $92 million.

What is the size of Rhino Resource IPO?
The Rhino Resource IPO will be offering around 5 million shares for sale through its initial public offering.

What is the expected price of Rhino Resource share?
From the valuations, it seems that the price of each share of Rhino Resource IPO will be around $20.

Where will the IPO proceeds be used by Rhino Resource?
Rhino Resource is expecting the capital raised to be used for various purposes. A portion of the proceeds will go towards repaying about $67 million in debt. The remaining proceeds will be distributed to its predecessor Rhino Energy LLC in connection with the offering.

What is the business and valuations of Rhino Resource?
Rhino has coal reserves located in Appalachia, the Illinois Basin and Colorado. For the year ended Dec. 31, the company produced about 7.1 million tons of coal and sold roughly 8.2 million tons of coal. Rhino sells its coal primarily to electric utilities and steel producers. In 2007, Rhino reported income of $30.7 million on revenue of $403.5 million.

What will be the shareholding pattern after the IPO?
Around 13.5% of the shares – making the 5 million shares – will be offered through the IPO for sale. Wexford Funds will own an 84.6 percent limited partner interest, and the Wexford principals will own and control the company's general partner.

Who are the lead underwriters to the issue?
Lehman Brothers is the lead underwriter to the issue. The good thing for the investors is that Rhino has granted the underwriters the option to buy up to an additional 750,000 units to cover any overallotments.

The company plans to list its units on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "RRLP."

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