Official word has just come in that the Nanosys IPO has been pulled. “adverse market conditions” are blamed, although insiders also tell us that the market feels that the stock has been overvalued and overhyped.
Lets take a minute to look at what this means, both for Nanosys and for nanotechnology.
For Nanosys it means going through the whole IPO process again, the filings, the road shows, the quiet period, taking some 6-12 months (perhaps longer if they dump Merrill Lynch as a result of this aborted attempt). So we can expect an IPO in a years time, with similar revenues but why should investors bite next year if they didnt like the pricing this year? Thats a problem Nanosys will have to address, and some products may help.
For nanotechnology? Well we can expect a plethora of stories claiming that it is all an over hyped bubble, and dangerous as well. In the meantime, smart investors will look beyond nanotechnology and see how nanotech is affecting the earnings of companies through improvements in efficiency, growth and productivity. After all, you dont need a nano in your name to benefit from nanotechnology.