Stocks came; went in '07
Six Oklahoma companies launched IPO's, other offerings await new year
Stocks came; went in '07

By Don Mecoy

Published: January 1, 2008

Oklahoma's comings and goings on Wall Street were varied in 2007.

Six state companies launched initial public offerings, including Oklahoma City's SandRidge Energy, one of the most anticipated in years.

SandRidge, helmed by Chesapeake Energy co-founder Tom Ward, made a bundle for those lucky enough to get shares of the IPO.

The stock continues to fatten the wallets of investors who bought early.

Continental Resources' June stock offering created Oklahoma's latest billionaire.

Continental Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Harold Hamm's holdings in the public company were valued at more than $2 billion by the open market.

After the state ended a four-year drought of new public companies earlier in this decade, more than a dozen completed initial public offerings have pumped more than $3 billion into Oklahoma's economy.

Energy companies remained the most active among those going public, including SemGroup Energy Partners and Quest Energy Partners, but the IPO parade included other sectors.

Two non-energy companies took their acts to Wall Street in July. Vaughan Foods, a Moore distributor of food processed for retail operations, and Limco-Piedmont, a Tulsa company that maintains, repairs and overhauls aircraft, each went public.

Moving off the trading board in 2007 was Dobson Communications Corp., which was acquired by AT&T.

AMS Health Sciences was delisted from the American Stock Exchange in September for failing to maintain a $1 stock price and other financial shortcomings.

Several IPOs remain on deck for 2008, including what may be the next big deal from OGE Enogex.

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