SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � BATS Global Markets withdrew its much-anticipated initial public offering on Friday after a glitch in its electronic exchange disrupted trading in its own debuting shares and those of Apple Inc.
Trades in shares of BATS �were cancelled.
In a statement, BATS Chief Executive Joe Ratterman said, �In the wake of today�s technical issues, which affected the trading of certain stocks, including that of BATS, we believe withdrawing the IPO is the appropriate action to take for our company and our shareholders.�
The announcement capped a wild ride for the company�s shares which appeared to be down by more than 90% at one point.
�What should have been one of the happiest days for BATS in their history has turned into a nightmare,� said Scott Sweet of IPO Boutique, who had reported that the stock, before the system confusion, had been �multiple times oversubscribed.�
�The good that BATS has done which is sizeable has in essence been eradicated,� he added. �Right now, people see it as a comedy show.�
The system glitch also sent Apple AAPL �shares tumbling by more than 9%, prompting trades to be halted.
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Apple shares eventually ended the day down 0.6%, closing at $596.05.
Trading in Apple shares were halted on a single-stock circuit breaker after their price dropped 9.4%. The price had been at $598.26 when a single trade of 100 shares on the BATS BYX Exchange at 10:57:36 a.m. ET sent the price to $542.80, according to data from FactSet Research.
As a result of a systems issue, three erroneous trades in Apple occurred, �one of which caused a volatility halt in that stock,� said BATS. �The erroneous trades were broken under BATS� clearly erroneous trade policy.�
Apple shares were halted at 10:57 a.m. ET and resumed trading at 11:02 a.m. ET.
Roughly 10 minutes before Apple�s share price dropped, BATS issued an alert, available on its website, that it was �investigating system issues trading in symbols range A through BF,� a range that includes Apple�s shares as well as its own.
BATS at 11:53 a.m. ET said �all issues� at its BZX Exchange in symbol range A through BF �have been resolved,� and that trading in that symbol range would resume at noon ET.
BATS also said it would cancel all open orders in the symbol range A through BFZZZ at 12:40 p.m. ET.
Nasdaq OMX, where BATS shares also traded before the halt, cancelled trades in BATS between 11:14 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. ET.
BATS priced its IPO of 6.3 million shares at $16 a share, at the low end of its range of $16 to $18.
The Lenexa, Kansas-based company says it is the third-largest exchange operator in the United States, after the NYSE Euronext and the Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., BATS says in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, the company reported a profit of $23.5 million, on revenue of $927 million, compared with a profit of $19.8 million, on revenue of $835 million in the year-earlier period, according to an SEC filing.
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