Sleepy deals to debut in slow U.S. IPO market

By Jessica Hall

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Enthusiasm is scarce for next week's initial public offerings, which include a real estate firm and glossy-paper maker, despite a surprisingly strong debut of Colfax Corp on Thursday.

Both Verso Paper Corp, which produces glossy, coated paper for magazines and catalogs, and American Capital Agency Corp, a real estate investment trust, lack the household name recognition or the recession-proof business models that marked the few bright spots in this year's IPO market, analysts said.

"These deals are moving extremely slowly. They may get done but it seems to be taking time and effort to get them out the door," said Sal Morreale, who tracks IPOs for Cantor Fitzgerald.

Although this year has seen some IPO successes, such as this week's debut of Colfax Corp (CFX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), and Visa Inc's (V.N: Quote, Profile, Research) record $18 billion offering in March, volume in the U.S. IPO market is down 63 percent this year, according to research firm Dealogic.

Both Verso and American Capital will be entering a tough market when they price their offerings on Monday. Verso aims to sell 18.8 million shares at an estimated price of $16 to $18 per share, while American Capital plans to launch an IPO of 12.5 million shares at $20 apiece.

Verso, a former business of International Paper (IP.N: Quote, Profile, Research), is owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management, whose stake will be reduced to about 67 percent following the IPO.

Apollo bought Verso from International Paper in 2006 for $1.4 billion and already recouped much of its investment in a dividend recapitalization in early 2007.

Verso expects to use net proceeds of about $295.8 million from the offering primarily to repay debt and for general corporate purposes. Its stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "VRS" (VRS.N: Quote, Profile, Research).