Canadian hedge fund manager Sprott Inc. had a rocky debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange after raising C$200 million (US$199.5 million) in its initial public offering.
Sprott sold 20,000,000 shares during its offering period at C$10 apiece. The stock fell as low as C$9.31 in trading yesterday—more than 7 million shares changed hands in its first hour—before rebounding and closing at $9.84, a 1.6% decline. In early trading today, Sprott shares were down a further 1.4% at C$9.70.
Sprott founder and namesake Eric Sprott blamed the drop on short-sellers.
The IPO values Sprott at C$1.5 billion (US$1.5 billion), and was the largest IPO in Canada in five months. Cormack Securities and TD Securities, who led the offering, have the option to buy another 3 million shares at C$10 by June 14.