IPO Watch: Which Song Will Investors Sing For Pandora, Bankrate Next Week?

Will investors next week be singing “It’s All About The Benjamins” or “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)?” We’ll see when Internet radio company Pandora and online financial data company Bankrate start trading next week.

The IPO of the past week was Fusion-io, which priced 12.3 million shares at $19 each above the top of its estimated range of $15. The stock then jumped above $25 Thursday and is trading at $24.20, Friday afternoon EST.

Looking ahead to next week, the largest one will be a return to the public markets for Bankrate, which recently filed an updated S-1, stating that it plans to offer 20 million shares priced between $14 and $16 per share, or $320 million at the top of the range.

Apax Partners, which acquired Bankrate in 2009 in a $571 million deal after ten years as a public company, is selling most of the 12.5 million shares from existing stock holders. Apax will still hold more than 70% of the company’s stock after the IPO

North Palm Beach, Fla.-based Bankrate (NYSE: RATE) operates a number of personal finance websites including Bankrate.com, which provide information and comparisons on mortgage rates, insurance, and credit cards. The company’s data and content is licensed or co-branded on websites with companies such as Yahoo, AOL, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and others.

The company would have a market cap of $1.5 billion at the midpoint of the range, which looks to be a nice return for Apax. Bankrate plans to use proceeds of the offering to pay down debt, among other uses.

In the most recent March quarter, Bankrate generated $99.1 million in revenue with a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $4.2 million. For 2010, the company had pro forma revenue of $300.9 million and a net loss of $21.5 million.

SWEET IPO MUSIC?

Showing the continued investor interested in social media IPOs, Internet radio company Pandora is also scheduled to go out next week–and begin trading on Wednesday, according to IPOBoutique.com and IPOScoop.com.

The company (NYSE: P) on Friday increased its expected price range from $7-$9 a share to $10-$12, while increasing its deal size by 1 million shares to 14.68 million shares. Pandora is selling 6 million shares and existing stock holders are selling 8.68 million shares. Underwriters have an option to sell up to 2.2 million more shares. If all shares are sold the company would have a market cap of $1.77 billion at the midpoint of the range. Is that price too high? One analyst thinks so.

Pandora recently updated its financials, showing $51 million in revenue for its most recent April quarter,  up 136% from $21.6 million in the year-ago period. Pandora’s net loss increased to $6.8 million, up from $3.0 million in the year-ago period.

Oakland, Calif.-based Pandora had  94 million registered users as of April, up 77% from 53 million a year ago. Active users were 34 million, up from 18 million a year ago. The company generated 86% of its revenue from advertising and 14% from ad-free premium subscriptions and other services.

As Forbes’ Nicole Perlroth noted, the Pandora IPO is a turnaround story for Pandora, which struggled in the past.

Shareholders holding more than 5% of the company include Crosslink Capital, Walden Venture Capital, Greylock Partners, Labrador Ventures, Hearst Corp. and GGV Capital.

OIL AND GAS

Also expected to float next week is Compresso Partners LP, which provides wellhead compression services to natural gas and oil exploration and production companies.

Compresso (NASDAQ: GSJK) is planning to offer 2.5 million shares at $19-$21 a share. The company expects net proceeds fo $39.2 million, of which $28.9 million will be used to retire debt.

The company posted $21.8 million in revenue in its April quarter, up slightly from $20.3 million in the year-ago period. Net income was $2.7 million in the recent quarter, up from $0.7 million in year ago period, though the company changed its company structure over that period.

QUIET PERIODS ENDING

Also next week are the end of quiet periods for recent IPOs China-based social network Renren, Boingo Wireless and patent company RPX Corp. Analyst coverage should start for these companies which could bring moves in their stock. Of the three, RPX is the only one whose stock is up since the IPO, while Renren (which I covered here) and Boingo (which Eric Savitz covered here) have been trading down.

Sources: IPOBoutique.com and IPOScoop.com and Renaissance Capital.