Sabre IPO Falls Short of Projections

Sabre Corp. raised a lower-than-expected $627 million in its initial public offering.

The company originally estimated that the net proceeds from its IPO would be about $797 million after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses.

That assumed the sale of 44.7 million shares at a price of $19 per share, the midpoint of the range set in its prospectus.

But Sabre sold 39.2 million shares priced at $16.

Tough week in tech
The lower price and fewer than expected shares were not unique to Sabre. In what the Wall Street Journal described as a “rough week to go public,” lower prices were a common theme, especially for technology stocks.

Some analysts believe the technology market is headed for another 2000-style crash.

Early trading
Sabre’s shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on April 17 under the symbol SABR and experienced a 3% uptick in early trading.

Sabre returned to the public market seven years after it was acquired by TPG Capital and Silver Lake Management LLC for about $5 billion.

Sabre plans to use the proceeds to reduce its debt.