Oil and Gas Investor connected with N.L. (Larry) Stevens III, member of the Firm's Energy Industry Team, for an article about the oil and gas IPO market. Industry onlookers agree that some energy companies might have been deterred by Facebook's run-in with Murphy's Law, deciding against a public offering for fear their debut will not be a strong as expected.
"Facebook was big and emblematic of fear that shares will trade down after an IPO and that investors will lose money on the trade down," says Mr. Stevens. "Look at the few energy company IPOs in 2012. All were priced at less than what company management had expected and all have traded down since the IPO and are selling at discounts up to as much as one-third of the IPO price — even for companies with solid reserves and excellent management teams."
The full article can be accessed here.