A pair of public offerings recently announced could be signs that the animal health sector is finding an appetite for IPOs.
San Francisco-based Jaguar Animal Health, which would trade under the symbol JAGX, hopes to raise $70 million. On Monday, Brazilian veterinary product manufacturer Ouro Fino Saúde Animal Participações S.A. filed for an initial public offering.
Ouro Fino didn't disclose the date or size of its filing with securities regulator CVM. JPMorgan Chase is leading the offering. If it happens, it would be the first successful IPO in Brazil this year, Reuters reported.
Jaguar produces gastrointestinal drugs for animals, with its mainstay compound aimed at treating various forms of watery diarrhea in dogs. According to the SEC, the company had cash equivalents of $4.3 million as of June 30 and had lost $4.2 million in the first 6 months of the year. Its largest shareholders are Napo Pharmaceuticals and BioVeda China Fund.
There had been a dearth of animal health IPOs prior to Pfizer's ($PFE) spinoff of Zoetis ($ZTS) last year, which raised about $2.2 billion. Industry insiders have said that triggered a pent-up demand for public offerings in the sector. The wildly successful spinoff catapulted Zoetis to the top-player position in animal health with revenues of $4.56 billion in 2013.
In April, Phibro Animal Health ($PAHC)--the maker of animal health and nutrition products--raised $176.5 million in its public offering.
- check out Jaguar's SEC filing
- read the SF Business Times take
- see Reuters' story on Ouro Fino
Special Report: Top 10 animal health companies of 2013 - Zoetis