Anaplan shares soar in software trading debut as others step back

Business-planning software company Anaplan soared in its US trading debut, the second such successful listing in a week while some in other segments stepped back from their plans to go public. Anaplan, which hired Tesla’s former chief accounting officer days before announcing its IPO plans in September, sold 15.5mn shares on Thursday at the top of its $15 to $17 targeted range to raise $263.5mn. The San Francisco-based company rose as much as 45% on Friday and closed up 43% to $24.30 in New York trading, giving it a market value of almost $3bn.

That followed Elastic’s first-day surge after its $252mn US IPO. The Dutch search and data software supplier, which priced its shares above the targeted range at $36, almost doubled to close at $70 in its October 6 debut.

The shares have eased back since then to $62.68, giving the company a market value $4.4bn.

The international market rout that rattled investors this week discouraged some companies with listing plans. Vehicle fleet operator LeasePlan Corp NV fell Thursday, citing market conditions for its decision to abandon an IPO that could have valued it at as much as €7.4bn ($8.1bn). Hours later, Portugal’s Sonae SGPS said it wouldn’t carry out the listing of its retail unit, Sonae MC, “due to current adverse conditions in international markets.”

Tencent Music Entertainment Group, the online-music arm of China’s largest social-media company that was aiming to sell shares in the US, also paused its IPO, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Livent Corp, a Philadelphia-based lithium chemicals maker, priced its shares Wednesday at $17 below its targeted range in its $340mn listing, only to see the price drop to $16.25 on Friday.

SoftBank Group Corp meanwhile, is moving ahead with its plans for listing its Japanese wireless business in what is expected to be a record offering of about ¥3tn ($27bn). SoftBank has picked banks including Nomura Holdings, Goldman Sachs Group and Deutsche Bank as lead underwriters, people familiar with the matter said.

The mobile operator currently plans to start marketing the sale next month and list the shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on December 19, although the timing could change, the people said. Anaplan competes against companies such as Oracle Corp and SAP AG, as well as Adaptive Insights.

That company was acquired this year by Workday within days of its own expected IPO. Chief financial officer Dave Morton was hired last month after his headline- generating exit from Tesla, the latest in a chain of departures from the electric- car maker.