Saluda Medical's debut day meltdown marks Australia's weakest IPO in decades

Updates with final numbers at the end of trade; adds data in paragraphs 3 and 4

By Roshan Thomas and Nikita Maria Jino

Dec 5 (Reuters) - Shares in medical device maker Saluda Medical SLD.AX collapsed on debut on Friday, shedding more than half their value in one of Australia's worst initial public offerings of A$100 million-plus ($66.27 million-plus) this century.

Saluda, a U.S.-based medical device company developing neuromodulation treatments for chronic neurological conditions, raised A$231 million ahead of its debut, valuing the company at about A$775 million at listing.

The stock slumped 43% to A$1.48 in early trade and ended a whopping 52.1% lower at A$1.27.

Saluda delivered the bleakest debut of any A$100 million-plus IPO in more than 20 years. Before Saluda, the biggest recent disappointment was gold tester Chrysos Corp C79.AX, which tumbled 36% when it listed in May 2022.

"Saluda's slide shows investors remain highly selective when it comes to high-growth but capital-intensive healthcare names, especially when profitability sits too far over the horizon," said Hebe Chen, a market analyst at Vantage Markets.

Founded in Sydney in 2010, Saluda has developed the Evoke spinal cord stimulation $(SCS)$ system, a closed-loop platform that measures and adapts therapy using neural biomarkers in real time. The U.S. drug regulator approves the SCS system.

Saluda's slump "signals that the IPO window may be technically open, but it isn't warm, investors are demanding clearer visibility, faster pathways to earnings, and disciplined valuations", Chen said.

Saluda's debut comes on the heels of GemLife Communities Group's GLF.AX A$750 million IPO in early July, Australia's biggest listing of 2025, which surpassed the country's second-largest airline Virgin Australia's VGN.AX A$685 million offering in late June.

The poor response to Saluda risks knocking the wind out of Australia's tentative IPO recovery, undermining hopes that the market was finally turning a corner after a prolonged slump.

The blow comes just as regulators roll out faster filings and streamlined disclosures to lure companies back and rekindle investor appetite.

($1 = 1.5090 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Roshan Thomas, Nikita Maria Jino and Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Rashmi Aich)

((Roshan.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com))