No IPOs Last Week but the Pipeline is Filling

​There were no new share offererings on U.S. exchanges last week. However, a few multinational companies are planning debuts. Canada’s Tilray and China’s Tencent Music are both planning American IPOs, while biotech firm Vaccinex filed for a NASDAQ IPO

• Tencent Music, a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings, said in a statement last Sunday that it would debut its shares to the public on a U.S. exchange. While no further details regarding a timetable or fundraising goal were disclosed, Financial Times reports have suggested the move could value Tencent at over $30 billion. Tencent Music dominates market share in China with over 600 million users on its QQ Music, KuGou, and Kuwo platforms.

• A Canadian cannabis producer and distributor is anticipating its shares will go live on the NASDAQ in July. After filing for an IPO in June, the company plans to raise $135 million with a July IPO. That would make Tilray the first pure play cannabis cultivator to raise capital via a Nasdaq listing. Money raised will be used to help the firm expand its cultivation and processing capacity in preparation for October 17, when recreational cannabis use will become legal across Canada.
  

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• Rochester, New York-based Vaccinex filed for a NASDAQ IPO on Wednesday. Vaccinex is a clinical stage biotech company that engages in the discovery and development of monoclonal antibodies and other targeted biological therapies to treat cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. The company is developing treatments to cure Huntington’s disease, non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, and multiple sclerosis. With an IPO on the NASDAQ under ticker VCNX, the company aims to raise $46 million.