PPD Goes Public

Last month, PPD announced its plans to go public-the second time in its existence-filing its IPO for stock in January. Today, it began trading as PPD at $27 a share on the NASDAQ. PPD was founded in 1985 by Fred Eshelman, who took the company public in 1996. In 2011, it went private again with its purchase by The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman.