旅游搜索引擎服务商Kayak暂缓IPO

    社交网站Facebook IPO惨败，股价现已破发27%，这吓倒了其他正在筹划上市的公司。目前，总部位于康涅狄格州诺沃克的旅游搜索引擎服务商Kayak准备暂缓IPO计划。

    据一位了解状况的人士称，Kayak原计划在五月底美国阵亡将士纪念日（Memorial Day）前后启动面向大型投资者的路演。但Facebook破发、美国就业数据疲弱和不断升级的欧债危机令投资者无心于IPO新股，尤其是互联网IPO。

    “无疑，Facebook给美国IPO市场以沉重打击。”位于康涅狄格州格林威治的IPO研究和投资管理公司Renaissance Capital LLC的研究总监保罗•巴德说，“加上大盘探底，IPO环境愈发严峻和险恶。”因此，他说，越来越多的投资者对IPO甚至连听都不想听。晨星（Morningstar）股票分析师苏丹（音译）表示同意，并指出欧洲经济举步维艰和美国经济阴晴不定也是原因之一。

    让投资者更加不安的是Groupon、Zynga等其他互联网公司的股价也已破发。巴德说：“当投资者不能从IPO中赚钱，他们就不再买入。如果上市第一天就要亏钱，谁会愿意投资新股呢？”IPOScoop.com创始人约翰•菲茨吉本表示：“必须要有赚钱效应，才能让IPO市场转起来。”

    Kayak发言人杰西卡•卡萨诺-安东内利斯说，她在此前的声明中已表明，Kayak正在“等待市场状况达到我们的要求”，除此之外，她不发表任何评论。

    Facebook主承销商摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）牵头本次Kayak 的IPO，可能也让事情更糟。但是，巴德说，他不认为Facebook破发会损害摩根士丹利长期以来在IPO领域的口碑。“我认为，一项交易不足以破坏声誉。”巴德说，“摩根士丹利经验丰富，成绩彪炳，帮助公司上市的能力备受称颂，特别是在科技领域。”摩根士丹利的发言人潘•彭德尔顿拒绝对此发表评论。

    Kayak的上市已筹划了一段时间。Dealogic的数据显示，Kayak首次递交上市申请是在近19个月前（2010年11月17日）——这几乎是其他美国公司平均等待时间的4倍还多。“如果Kayak今年3、4月份上市，可能还会表现不错，当时市场对科技股的热情高涨。”巴德说。

    现在的问题是Kayak是不是过于谨慎，对Facebook的失败反应过度了？

    The Facebook IPO debacle, which has seen the social network's shares tumble 27% below its IPO price, has spooked other companies planning to go public, with at least one, Kayak Software Corp., putting its IPO plans on ice -- at least for now.

    Kayak, an online travel listings site based in Norwalk, Conn., had planned to kick off its roadshow to hype its public offering to large investors around Memorial Day, according to someone familiar with the situation. However, the fallout from Facebook (FB), weak job numbers and the European debt crisis have shaken investor appetite for new listings, especially in the internet sector.

    "There's no question that Facebook dealt a blow to the IPO market in the U.S.," says Paul Bard, director of research at Renaissance Capital LLC, a Greenwich, Conn., IPO research and investment management company. "And with the broader market cratering at the moment, it's creating a very challenging and more ominous environment for IPOs," says Bard. As a result, he says there are fewer investors willing to even take a look at an IPO. Morningstar (MORN) equity analyst Dan Su concurs, citing faltering European and shaky U.S. economies.

    Fueling investor anxiety further is the fact that other internet IPOs, such as Groupon (GRPN) and Zynga (ZNGA), are trading below their IPO prices. "When investors are not making money on IPOs, they go on strike. Who wants to invest money in a new company if they're going to lose money on day one?" says Bard. "You need the wind at your back to get the IPO market going," adds John Fitzgibbon, founder of IPOScoop.com.

    Jessica Casano-Antonellis, a Kayak spokesman, said she could not comment beyond an earlier statement in which she said Kayak is "waiting for market conditions to meet our requirements."

    It doesn't help matters that Morgan Stanley, who handled the Facebook IPO, is also leading the Kayak offering. However, Bard says he doesn't believe the Facebook flop has damaged Morgan Stanley's reputation in the IPO space in the long-term. "At the end of the day, I don't think one deal is enough to derail a reputation," Bard says. "Morgan Stanley is one of the most seasoned and proven investment banks and well-respected in their ability to bring companies public, especially in the technology space." Pen Pendleton, a Morgan Stanley spokesman, declined to comment.

    Kayak's decision to enter the public arena has long been in the planning. It first filed to go public almost 19 months ago -- Nov. 17, 2010 -- which is almost four times longer than the 152 days that other U.S. companies have waited on average, according to Dealogic. "They probably would have been better off if they went public in March or April when there was a lot of interest and excitement around technology stocks," says Bard.

    The question now, is Kayak being overly cautious and perhaps overreacting to the Facebook fallout?