Until the Securities and Exchanges Commission reopens, companies that want to file their listing plans -- including huge private companies like Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. --aren’t getting any feedback from the agency to help them move forward with the process.
That gets critical on Feb. 14, when financial statements provided by companies waiting to launch their IPOs go stale and must be updated -- and audited -- for the whole of 2018.
“The window to price by Feb. 14 is closing,” said David Goldschmidt, global head of capital markets at law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP. “If people aren’t able to do their deals by then there’s a chance we could lose a good part of the first quarter for IPOs.”
Uber and Lyft, both of which had been targeting their IPOs for the first half of the year, believe the shutdown could slow the timeline of their listings, people familiar with the matter said last week.
Mobile networking company Pareteum Corp. warned that its acquisition of Wi-Fi network provider iPass Inc. won’t be done by Jan. 31, “as a result of the government shutdown” -- a key deadline for iPass to avoid being delisted from Nasdaq.
“IPass is in the process of requesting an extension from Nasdaq to the extraordinary circumstances resulting from the government shutdown,” Pareteum said in a Jan. 11 filing, but if iPass doesn’t get the extension, the trading of its common stock will be suspended and the delisting process will begin anew.
Truck Delays
Some companies may not be able to introduce new products or complete mergers that requires government approval. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, for example, is awaiting EPA emissions certification to sell new heavy-duty Ram pickups.
“I am concerned, very concerned, because if it continues, it will have an impact on on the launch,” Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Mike Manley told reporters this week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Southwest Airlines Co. had expected to begin selling tickets for flights to Hawaii in late 2018 and to start service this quarter. But it can’t move forward without approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for extended flights over water.
Likewise, T-Mobile US Inc.’s $26.5 billion proposed purchase of fellow mobile carrier Sprint Corp. can’t go forward without a sign-off from the Federal Communications Commission, which is mostly shut. And FCC employees charged with approving new technologies and devices -- including equipment needed for the 5G wireless upgrade -- are furloughed.