Verisk IPO Raises $1.88 Billion, More Than Planned
(Corrects to show that $80.9 million in net income was forthe first six months of 2008 in the fifth paragraph.)
Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Verisk Analytics Inc., the supplierof actuarial data co-owned by insurers including Travelers Cos.,sold $1.88 billion of stock in an initial public offering, morethan planned, in the biggest U.S. IPO since Visa Inc. in 2008.
Verisk sold about 85.3 million shares for $22 a shareyesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The JerseyCity, New Jersey-based company had said it would sell shares for$19 to $21 each.
The 56 percent rise in U.S. stock prices since March isprompting company executives to hold IPOs. Investors are bettingthat an economic recovery will boost earnings, luring buyers toIPOs after a two-year drought. Eleven companies sold shares inSeptember, the most since January 2008, according to Bloombergdata. Verisk Chief Executive Officer Frank Coyne is seeking tocapitalize on demand for data that insurance companies use toprice coverage and detect policyholder fraud.
“There is going to be investor interest for this,” saidDavid Menlow, president of IPOfinancial.com in Milburn, NewJersey. Verisk seems “to be carrying their proprietaryanalytics package to some of the largest property and casualtycompanies,” he said.
Insurers, reinsurers and brokers analyze records oneverything from weather to driving behavior to select customersand set rates. The company had net income of $90.9 million inthe first half of 2009 on revenue of $503.7 million, last week’sfiling shows. That compares with net income of $80.9 million inthe first six months of 2008.
‘Positive Indicator’
The offering is a “very positive indicator” for the IPOmarket, Menlow said. “Now it appears as though the market isready to start taking some of the deals, but not at a rapidpace.”
In Brazil, Banco Santander (Brasil) SA raised about 14.1billion reais ($8 billion) in the largest IPO the country hasever seen. The shares are due to begin trading today.
Verisk will trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under theticker VRSK. The company won’t receive any money from the sale.American International Group Inc., Hartford Financial ServicesGroup Inc. and Travelers are among insurers selling stakes inthe company. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is partowner and isn’t selling shares in the offering, the filingshows.
Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase &Co., Wells Fargo & Co., William Blair & Co., Fox-Pitt KeltonCochran Caronia Waller LLC, and KBW Inc. are underwriting theoffering, Verisk said.
Visa, the world’s largest electronic-payments network,raised more than $19 billion in a March 2008 IPO. It was theworld’s second-largest public offering after the Industrial &Commercial Bank of China Ltd.’s $22 billion debut in 2006.
To contact the reporter on this story:Jamie McGee in New York at jmcgee8@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 7, 2009 08:00 EDTSource: Bloomberg
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