_800x533_L_1412662134.jpg)
By Sruthi Shankar and Rachel Chitra
(Reuters) - RainDance Technologies Inc, a maker of gene-based tools to detect cancer and inherited diseases, said it planned to withdraw its initial public offering due to adverse "market conditions."
The move by RainDance, which filed for an IPO of up to $60 million in February, comes on the day of a sell-off in global equities following a slump in Chinese stocks.
Other companies that have decided against going public this year include Expro Oilfield Services, S1 BioPharma and casual dining chain J Alexander's LLC.
"With last week's mayhem and today's drop you can expect IPO activity to grind to a complete halt," said Jay Ritter, IPO expert and professor at the University of Florida. "The IPO market is always hyper sensitive to market movements; and you can expect it to dry up when it falls."
It was not clear from RainDance's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission if the company would consider an IPO again. (http://1.usa.gov/1JNS5zq)
Companies may consider repricing their offering in current market conditions if they don't want to pull back their listing plans, said Francis Gaskins, president of research firm IPO Desktop Premium.
There are no companies expected to make their U.S. debut next week, IPOScoop.com reported on Monday.
Massachusetts-based RainDance, whose top investors include GE Ventures, Acadia Woods Partners, Quaker BioVentures and Northgate Capital, had planned to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "RAIN."
The company's revenue almost doubled to $30.6 million in 2014.
RainDance said in its SEC filing that it had a small customer base and the loss of one or more customers could severely hurt its business.
Its largest customer is Myriad Genetics Inc, which accounted for more than half of the company's revenue in 2014.
RainDance executives were not available for comment.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC), Evercore ISI and Cowen & Co were among the underwriters for the IPO.