Naperville, Illinois-based Calamos Asset Management has raised $360 million in its initial public offering.

The company offered 20 million shares of Class A stock at $18.00 per share on Thursday. The company's stock trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol "CLMS."

Calamos officials said they intended to use the funds to expand its alternative investments unit and for other corporate purposes.

The funds raised by Calamos' initial public offering make up just 1.1 percent of total assets under management (approximately $33.2 billion), somewhat low compared to other public money managers. This ratio of market capitalization to assets under management, for fund firms, typically ranges around three percent.
Part of the ratio may be explained by the structure of the offering. Calamos Family Partners will retain approximately 97.8 percent of the voting power in Calamos Asset Management. Calamos Asset Management will retain 18 to 21 percent of Calamos Holdings, which includes Calamos Partners, Calamos Advisors, Calamos Financial Services and Calamos Property Management. Calamos Family Partners will retain 79 to 82 percent of Calamos Holdings.

For recently proffered Cohen & Steers, the ratio of total funds raised to assets under management at the time of the offering was approximately 0.7 percent. Currently, market capitalization to assets for the New York-based is approximately 3.0 percent.

Citigroup Global Markets and Merrill Lynch were the lead managers on the deal.  

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