Twitter Inc (TWTR) Fourth-Largest IPO Of 2013; Which Was No.1?

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Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)’s IPO was undoubtedly the most popular offering this year. 2013 is about to end, and with no major IPO in sight except Hilton Worldwide, let’s look at the top public offerings this year. As stock markets continue to soar, retail investors have shown renewed interest in IPOs. This year has been particularly good for IPOs. Public offering proceeds in 2013 surpassed 2012’s total IPO proceeds in early November, according to Renaissance Capital.

Hilton the next major IPO

Despite all the hype and publicity, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)’s listing was the fourth-largest IPO of the year. The microblogging site raised $1.82 billion in the offering. That’s still a huge figure for just a 6-year old company, says Lydia DePillis of The Washington Post. Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS), which raised $2.24 billion in January, was the third-largest IPO of 2013. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) spun it off to focus on its core businesses. Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS) specializes in animal health medicines.

We reported yesterday that The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) is taking Hilton Worldwide public this month. The private equity firm acquired Hilton in 2007 for $26.7 billion. Hilton and its existing shareholders plan to raise about $2.4 billion in the offering by selling 112.8 million shares. It will clearly make the hotel operator the second-largest public offering of the year. Hilton is attracting investors due to its unique business model. It has more than 4,000 hotels worldwide, but actually owns only 157 of them. It operates others’ properties or licenses its brand.

Twitter’s popularity overshadows the largest IPO of 2013

The largest IPO of the year surprisingly garnered the least public attention. I’m talking about Plains GP Holdings LP (NYSE:PAGP) that went public in October. The oil pipeline holding company raised $2.82 billion in the public offering. The company clearly benefited from the domestic energy boom.

Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares were up 4.67% to $43.30 at 11:28 AM EST. The stock is down 3.74% from its November 8th peak of $44.90.

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