MLV Sees Continued Increase in ATM Filings in 2011 and Beyond

NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- MLV, a leading boutique investment bank whose principals pioneered the At-the-Market (ATM) transaction market, believes the filing of ATM transactions will continue apace for the last quarter of 2011.  In the last financial crisis, ATMs were an invaluable tool in raising capital in strong financial markets as well as arguably the only method that worked effectively in poor markets.  Testament to how important ATMs can be, ATMs were heavily implemented by banks to recapitalize themselves in 2008 and 2009 during the financial crisis. 

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"We believe that today's volatile markets provide clients with even more reasons to implement ATM transactions than before," said Patrice McNicoll, CEO of MLV.  "Using ATM, companies have the ability to sell shares at-the-market price whenever desired so that companies can take full advantage of even very short windows of opportunity, such as part of a trading day.  ATMs are an essential asset for companies looking to raise capital opportunistically in times of need or strength, and as such, we believe they will be tapped for the rest of 2011 and well into 2012 and beyond."

Since MLV's inception in January 2010, MLV has been the lead underwriter on 46 ATMs which far surpasses any other investment bank, large or small, on Wall Street.  These deals have a value of over $1.5 billion.  MLV's expertise in conducting these transactions comes from its depth of knowledge of all aspects of ATM, its seamless implementation, and fully aligned trading execution.

In 2011, MLV has been underwriter on approximately 27% of the ATM transactions filed, executing 26 of the 98 ATMs through August 31.  The average market cap of an ATM issuer this year has been approximately $4 billion, with the median market cap being approximately $660 million.  As the financial markets swooned this past August, ATMs' share of the follow-on market spiked to 76% of all follow-on equity offerings in that month.  There were only 4 traditional follow-on deals larger than $5 million in August, as compared to 13 ATMs.  Of these August ATMs, MLV was underwriter on 6 of them (46% of the market). Looking at the overall follow-on equity market in 2011, there have been 412 registered deals according to Bloomberg, which means ATM transactions comprise almost 25% of all shelf takedowns this year.

About ATMs

ATMs are a type of shelf-based (S-3) offering which provides a public issuer the ability to sell publicly traded shares at the prevailing market price at the time and amount of its choosing.  Issuers have control over the timing and size of transactions and can modify parameters as desired.  

About MLV

MLV is a boutique investment bank and institutional broker-dealer focused on providing independent financial advice and unique capital markets expertise to corporate and institutional clients in capital intensive industries such as metals and mining, life sciences, energy and real estate. With a focus on raising money efficiently for clients, MLV has rapidly become a leader in the At-the-Market (ATM) transaction market.  MLV is a member of FINRA and the SIPC.

SOURCE MLV