ISE Ltd.'s debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange Monday marks the first cleantech initial public offering on Canada's main exchange since July 2009.
With shares down 4% from its opening price of $6, it's been a slow start for the manufacturer and distributor of heavy duty hybrid-electric drive systems. But following on the heels of two recent high profile postponements in the cleantech IPO market south of the border, it could be a lot worse.
"ISE is an excellent example of a U.S.-based company that has successfully accessed the capital it needs on Toronto Stock Exchange," said Kevan Cowan, president TSX Markets and Group Head of Equities. "We are very proud to have the company on our market."
Earlier this year, China-based JinkoSolar postponed efforts to go public in the U.S., while Daqo New Energy, a Chinese polysilicon provider, actually halted its IPO plans after a cut to its original price range one day before its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, failed to generate the necessary interest.
Both companies blamed their IPO troubles on the still weak financial sector south of the border.
Despite these failures, Dallas Kachan, managing director and executive editor of the Cleantech Group, a defacto industry association for clean technology companies, said the IPO market in North America continues to gain strength after collapsing through the Great Recession.
He noted in an article that 53 domestic and international companies
filed paperwork to hold initial public offerings in the U.S. in Q4
2009, according to the latest data from Ernst & Young.
"That's the highest number of new registrants in a single quarter since
2007. There are more deals waiting to go public in the U.S. than in
more than two years," he wrote
ISE raised $20.7-million through its initial public offering and the company is expected use the proceeds us to expand sales globally and invest further in research and development.