Americans commonly know April 15 as Tax Day. For those living in metropolitan Los Angeles, April 15, 2014 had extra special meaning because it was also the day of the Blood Moon and total lunar eclipse. Yet for an even smaller group of individuals, April 15 was significant because it was the day Moelis and Co., an investment bank firm in Century City, announced its pricing for its Initial Public Offering (IPO).
According to a statement released by Moelis and Co. on April 15, the firm priced its 6.5 million shares of Class A common stock at $25.00 per share. Underwriters were granted a 30-day option to purchase up to 975,000 additional Class A common stock shares at the $25.00 per share price (less commissions and underwriting discounts), the firm also announced.
With the announcement, Moelis & Co. officially began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on April 16 under the ticker symbol “MC.”
Moelis & Co. stated the offering, which was made available only by means of prospectus, should close on April 22, “subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.”
The New York Times reported both the total number of share made available and the price per share were less than what was expected, with firm chief executive hoping the lower price ($25 per share instead of $26 per share) and smaller offering (6.5 million instead of 7.3 million shares) would make Moelis & Co. a more enticing investment.
According to news reports, Moelis & Co. shares closed at $26.15 per share, or 4.6 percent more than the IPO opening price.
The offering helped Moelis & Co. raise $163 million. It was also reported Moelis owns 97 percent of the firm’s votes.
Bloomberg reported filings showed 80 percent of the proceeds raised from the IPO would be used to make one-time payments to Moelis and his partners. The remaining 20 percent would be reinvested back into the firm, Bloomberg reported.
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., and Morgan Stanley reportedly managed the offering.
Moelis founded his namesake firm in 2007. Among those he has advised include Ken Icahn and Donald Trump.
The firm was involved in several major transactions this year, including the pending sale of structured retail investor products and equity derivatives business from the Royal Bank of Scotland to BNP Paribas for £15 billion (about $25.2 billion)
Moelis & Co. was also involved with the reported $29.6 billion Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization of American Airlines and its merger with U.S. Airways in December 2013.
In March, Moelis & Co. expanded into Brazil, as the firm announced the opening of an office in Sao Paulo.
With about 500 employees in 15 offices worldwide, Moelis & Co. specializes in mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, and other corporate finance issues. It also offers financial advisory services to its clients, which include corporations, governments, and financial sponsors.
The Los Angeles office of Moelis & Co. is located at 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1900, in Century City.
Other offices are located in Beijing (China), Boston, Chicago, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Frankfurt (Germany), Hong Kong (China), Houston, London (England), Mumbai (India), Palo Alto, Paris (France), and Sydney (Australia).
