The IPO Buzz: StandardAero (SARO) Opens at $31 – Up 29.2 Percent in NYSE Debut

StandardAero (SARO) took off in its NYSE debut today. Shares of StandardAero shot up to open  at $31.00 –  up $7.00 for a 29.2 percent gain from their IPO price of $24.00 – when they started trading at midday on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, on the New York Stock Exchange. That strong opening gave StandardAero a market cap of $10.37 billion – right at the first print – for an increase of about $2 billion from its valuation at the $24.00-per-share IPO price. StandardAero was priced at $24.00 – $1.00 above the top of the $20.00-to-$23.00 range in the prospectus – on Tuesday night, Oct. 1, 2024. The deal was upsized late last week to 60.0 million shares, up from 46.5 million shares initially, according to an S-1/A filing dated Sept. 27, 2024. Up, Up and Away Scottsdale, Arizona-based StandardAero is familiar with flight. The company says it is “the world’s largest independent pure-play provider of aerospace engine aftermarket services for fixed and rotary wing aircraft, serving the commercial, military and business aviation end markets,” according to the prospectus. At around 2 p.m. EDT today, StandardAero’s stock was at $32.00 – up $8.00 for a 33.3 percent gain from its $24.00 IPO price on NYSE volume of about 15.62 million shares. J.P.Morgan and Morgan Stanley led the joint book-runners’ team for StandardAero’s IPO. The book-running team included BofA Securities,  UBS Investment Bank,  Jefferies and  RBC Capital Markets. Other investment banks on the team included Carlyle, CIBC Capital Markets, HSBC, Mizuho Securities, Societe Generale and Wolfe Nomura Alliance. Of the 60 million shares in the IPO, StandardAero sold 53.25 million shares and the selling stockholders sold 6.75 million shares. The selling stockholders are affiliates of The Carlyle Group and GIC Private Limited. (Please see the “Conflict of Interest” note in the prospectus with regard to Carlyle.) Paying Off Some Debt StandardAero  said it will use the IPO’s proceeds to pay off about $908.2 million in debt, according to the prospectus. As of June 30, 2024, StandardAero’s total outstanding debt was about $3.28 billion. Blackrock Inc., Janus Henderson Investors and Norges Bank Investment Management – known as the “cornerstone investors” – indicated an interest in buying up to an aggregate of $275 million of stock in the IPO, the prospectus said. StandardAero is not profitable. For the year that ended Dec. 31, 2023, Standard Aero reported a net loss of $35.1 million on revenue of $4.56 billion. (For more information about these companies, please check the IPO Calendar and the individual IPO Profiles found on IPOScoop.com’s website.) Note: Never trade on proposed symbols. They have been known to change and you might buy something on the OTC Bulletin Board. To see what time the NASDAQ IPOs are expected to trade, please log in to: NASDAQTrader.com then scroll down to IPO Message. Disclosure: Nobody on the IPOScoop.com staff has a position in any stocks mentioned above, nor do they trade or invest in IPOs. The IPOScoop.com staff does not issue advice, recommendations or opinions. Disclaimer: A SCOOP Rating (Wall Street Consensus of Opening-day Premiums) is a general consensus taken, at press time, from Wall Street and investment professionals concerning how well an IPO might perform when it starts trading. The SCOOP Rating does not reflect the opinions or anyone associated with IPOScoop.com. The SCOOP ratings should not be taken as investment advice. The rating merely reflects the opinion of the professionals at the time of publication and is subject to last-minute changes due to market conditions, changes in a specific offering and other factors, such as changes in the proposed offering terms and the shifting of investor interest in the IPO. The information offered is taken from sources we believe to be reliable, but we cannot guarantee the accuracy.