Apollo-Backed Realogy Trades Up 27 Percent on IPO

Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), the real-estate services provider known for brands including Coldwell Banker and Century 21 and backed by Leon Black’s Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE: APO), traded at a high of about $34 on the day of its initial public offering.

The stock priced at the high end of its expected range at $27 per share late on Oct. 10.

Realogy sold 40 million shares and raised $1.08 billion, marking the third largest initial public offering of 2012, behind Facebook Inc.’s (Nasdaq: FB) $16 billion IPO and Santander Mexico’s (NYSE: SAN) debut, which raised more than $4 billion for the Mexican bank. Realogy begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 11.

Realogy’s IPO comes as home prices have started to creep back up, after the worst housing market since the 1930s.

Apollo took Parsippany, N.J.-based Realogy private for $6.8 billion in 2007, two years after home prices peaked. The New York private equity fund owned about 73 percent of the company before the IPO, a stake that shrinks to about 50 percent in the transaction.

New York hedge fund Paulson & Co. , which is led by John Paulson, who made billions of dollars betting on the collapse of the market for mortgage-backed securities, owned 15 percent of Realogy before the public offering and 10 percent after it.

Realogy provides real-estate franchising, brokerage, relocation and title services. Its franchise system members operate approximately 13,500 offices in 103 countries.

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP is providing legal counsel to Realogy in the IPO with a team led by partner Stacy Kanter, co-head of the firm's global corporate finance practice.

The underwriters, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Securities, are receiving counsel from Simpson Thacher.

Shutterstock's (NYSE:SSTK) stock was also trading up nearly 35 percent in its first day on the exchange, to a high of $22.90. The company sold 4.5 million shares priced at $17 each, above its expected $13 to $15 range. The company provides stock photos and videos on the Internet. Shutterstock is backed by New York private equity firm Insight Venture Partners.