IPO Investor Look Ahead

Since January 1st, 56 fresh IPO's have raised over $9.2 billion in gross proceeds and the current IPO market is just heating up. The madness continues this week, with 11 companies slated to begin trading shares publically.

Expected to open for trading this week are: CBS Outdoor Americas, Inc (CBSO), Everyday Health (EVDY), Aerohive Networks, Inc (HIVE), 2U, Inc (TWOU), Square 1 Financial (SQBK), King Digital Entertainment (KING), Trinet Group (TNET), 1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc (PIH), Nord Anglia Education (NORD), Bluerock Residential Growth REIT (BRG), and Energous Corp (WATT). Not all IPO's are created equally though, so which ones are the most interesting?

Creator of the hit Candy Crush Saga, King Digital Entertainment, is expected to raise over $500,000,000 in its IPO this week. The company is offering just over 7% of the total shares in its IPO. With strong financials, and a deep lineup of bookrunners, it will be exciting to see how it opens for trading. The bookrunners for King are Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse Securities, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch, and RBC Capital Markets.

Specializing in what is seen while driving, CBS Outdoor Americas focuses its business on billboard marketing. Its portfolio, mainly consisting of billboard displays are located across the United States, Canada and Latin America, predominantly in densely populated major metropolitan areas and along high-traffic expressways. The company is this week's largest issue, expecting to price its 20,000,000 share offer between $26.00 and $28.00.

Call it cloud-based something and the masses will come running. 2U is shaping up to be no different, offering its cloud-based software as a service solution for nonprofit colleges and universities. The online learning platform offers educational content with live classes in an intimate and engaging setting through its proprietary web-based and mobile applications. 2U will be offering 23% of the company in an effort to raise almost $120,000,000 that will be used for driving new student enrollments into client programs and for the technology to support the ongoing services.