There wasn't much sizzle behind China Distance Education Holdings'
Offering 8.75 million shares priced at $7 apiece, the stock opened at $6.50 and never crept above the IPO price. It closed at $6.63, down 5% from its debutante price tag.
Things could have been worse. China Distance Education, a provider of Web-based professional education, was originally looking to net as much as $11 a share in its market debut. Demand dictated the lower price, so at least the first wave of investors didn't suffer steep paper losses yesterday.
The new stock's debut is significant, despite the uninspiring follow-through. China Distance Education is actually the first Chinese company to go public in this country since computer-based certification testing provider ATA
This latest IPO isn't exactly opening up the floodgates, but with the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing, one would think that more companies would take advantage of the global spotlight and go public.
The market's lukewarm response to yesterday's IPO won't help, but that may also owe to investor apprehension about the niche itself. China may have lapped the United States this year to become the country with the most Internet users, but the publicly traded companies offering to retool the Chinese workforce have been all over the map.
ATA and New Oriental Education
Reach out for more higher learning with these related stories: