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From Digicel SEC Filing, June 26, 2015
The Digicel IPO will hit the market this Thursday, Oct. 8, and it should be the largest IPO of the year so far.
According to Renaissance Capital, a manager of IPO-focused ETFs, Digicel will sell 124 million shares at a price range of $13 to $16. At the midpoint of that range, the Digicel IPO will raise $1.8 billion, and the company will have a market cap of $4.6 billion.
After it prices this Thursday, the $1.8 billion deal will outpace Tallgrass Energy GP LP’s (NYSE: TEGP) $1.2 billion deal from May and Columbia Pipeline Partners LP’s (NYSE: CPPL) $1.1 billion IPO from February.
Digicel Group Ltd. (NYSE: DCEL) is a telecommunications company providing services in Haiti, Jamaica, and Papua New Guinea. With more than 14 million subscribers, the Bermuda-based firm is one of the largest mobile service providers in the Caribbean.
The company was recently acknowledged for its philanthropy and responsible business practices. On Sept. 28, Digicel was awarded an Ethical Corp. Responsible Business Award, which celebrates companies practicing social responsibility. The company received it for rebuilding 150 Haitian schools destroyed by the country’s 2010 earthquake. The effort makes Digicel the single-largest school builder in the Caribbean.
Despite its wholesome business practices, Digicel is far from profitable right now. The company booked $2.8 billion in revenue from March 2014 to March 2015. But in the last year, it swung from a profit of $44 million to a loss of $158 million.
The Digicel IPO is also entering a beaten-down sector. The only other communications IPO this year, Ooma Inc. (NYSE: OOMA), priced 19% below its range and is down 35.2% from its first-day close.
With the Digicel IPO just a few days away, investors are wondering if they should invest in DCEL stock when it makes its debut…