The Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) debuted on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, raising $929.5 million in its Initial Public Offering (IPO) pricing 71.5 million shares at $13 per unit, according to several news reports. The IPO underperformed, gaining only a modest 3 percent in early trading.
"The stock closed at $13.10, up 0.8 percent, after earlier gaining as much as 3.8 percent," reports Bloomberg.
There was much anticipation in the market about the Real Estate Investment Trust's IPO. However, all the excitement fizzled-out and the IPO got overshadowed by two other blockbuster IPOs - Burlington Stores and Re/Max Holdings, which also began trading on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, reports CNN Money.
CNN Money also notes that the initial price of the shares, which ranged from $13 to $15, is lesser than the admission fee to the Empire State Building's observatory that range from $16 to $55!
Leasing issues, IPO governing challenges and arriving at the value of the observatory at the Empire State Building are few of the major concerns that revolve around ESRT. While the debut might not be very good, resolving the issues could help the REIT do better.
The REIT comprises of about 21 properties including the Empire State Building, which will be the centrepiece of the Trust. Of the total, seven are located in midtown Manhattan while the others are in Westchester County, Connecticut and Fairfield County.
Read more on the IPO and its battle to go public, here.
Meanwhile, 2013 has been a year of great IPOs. Facebook, Twitter, MGM Holdings and many others went public this year. According to Forbes:
If the IPO market averages 23 deals per month this quarter, which would mark a slightly faster pace than Q3, it could reach 220 deals for 2013, which would mark the busiest year for public debuts since 2000.
