Corio Gains 40% in Nasdaq Debut

Shares in application service provider Corio, Inc. finished on a high note at the end of their first day of trading on the Nasdaq stock market yesterday.

Corio stock closed just over 40% up on the offer price of $14, at $19 and eleven-sixteenths. The highest price seen during the day had been at the open, when the price briefly hit $21¾ before dipping back. It touched a low of $17 at lunchtime, then recovered to stage a final surge in the last hour of trading.

The rise in its share price was against the wider trend on Wall St, where the composite index of all Nasdaq shares fell by over 2% on the day. However its performance was muted compared to other IPOs this week, particularly those by biotechnology stocks.

Based on the closing price, Corio’s market capitalization falls just short of the $1bn mark at around $950m.

Corio raised $140m in the offering, having set an offer price slightly higher than the $11-$13 range it had previously quoted. It will use the funds as working capital and to repay $11m of debts. See related ASPnews.com story, Corio Prices IPO as Dell Climbs Aboard, Jun 12th 2000.