In N.Y., William Alden reports Bills QB E.J. Manuel's Fantex IPO "stock got an uncertain reception" from investors on Wall Street yesterday. Manuel's IPO of 523,700 shares "received a significant amount of support" from Fantex itself. Unable to sell all of the Manuel stock to investors, the company "stepped in to buy 250,000 shares," or 48% of the total amount offered. Despite the "slack demand, the stock was trading higher in its debut" yesterday. After "opening for trading at $10 at noon, the shares were up" 15% in early afternoon trading (N.Y. TIMES, 7/22).
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: In N.Y., Christian Red notes Yankees SS Derek Jeter yesterday "braved the summer heat and a throng of fans and tourists to help serve some Luvo treats" out of the Georgia-based health food company's food truck. Officially, Jeter is a "Luvo brand development officer." But with his final season still ongoing, Jeter said that he "won’t play too active a role until his final game in pinstripes is in the books." Jeter said, "When I'm finished, I'll be obviously a lot more hands on depending on what projects I'm doing" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/22).
CLEAR YOUR PLATE: In Texas, Enrique Rangel reported of the 365 types of specialty license plates the state DMV has issued featuring sports teams and other organizations since '09, "several dozen will soon be nixed." The canceled plates "didn’t generate enough interest from Texas motorists, much less revenue for the state." To stay in the market, each type of plate had to have a "minimum of 200 buyers a year, and 87 tags have not met the minimum requirement." Among the nixed plates are the Rockets, Stars and NASCAR (AMARILLO.com, 7/18).
