AMERICAS

摘要

US companies hoping to survive Covid-19 are turning to less conventional means to raise equity, limiting the amount of public stock sales for the time being. The initial response to the virus crisis has seen companies resort to equity and equity-linked products such as CBs, PIPEs and ATMs with traditionally marketed straight equity remaining one of the last options for issuers looking to ride through the downturn. "In times like these, you pull out all the tools that are available to help companies," one senior ECM banker said. "The good thing is that capital providers of all types, public and private, are open for business." The past week saw limited conventional ECM activity again, including no IPOs, and follow-ons confined mostly to the resilient biotech sector.