Health Gate Data is an IPO that has been on the calendar for what
seems to be an eternity (the company filed its IPO in April 1999). This
is typically the proverbial “kiss of death.” If Health Gate were a hot
deal, it would currently have an active ticker symbol.
Health Gate Data is a content hub for healthcare, catering to
physicians, patients and consumers. Actually, the site has 27 million different
pages of content from more than 190 sources. The sources include such
well-regarded journals as the New England Journal of Medicine, Medline,
and the Drug Information Handbook.
With such rich content, Health Gate has developed a sophisticated
searching technology. It is called ReADER, which uses natural language searching.
True, healthcare is a big business (in excess of $1 trillion per year).
However, there is a glut of health content sites. What s more, Healtheon/WebMD
appears to have a decided lead in the space.
Health Gate Data plans to issue 3.7 million shares between the price
range of $9-$11. The lead underwriter is SG Cowen and the proposed ticker symbol
is HGAT.
Buy.com should create some stir. As the name implies, the company is a
superstore e-commerce portal
books, videos, DVDs, computer games, music, golf equipment, consumer
electronics (over 850,000 items).
What s more, the company abides by a low-price strategy. According to
Media Metrix, Buy.com is the fourth
largest e-commerce site.
Unfortunately, the etailing sector has been sickly even for blue-chip
companies like Amazon.com (AMZN). While
Buy.com should have a strong first-day, it may come under pressure as
investors flip the stock.
The company plans to issue 14 million shares between the price range of
$10-$12. The lead underwriter is
Merrill Lynch and the proposed ticker symbol is BUYX.
Intellesale.com wants to be a public company. Actually, the company is a
roll-up of 14 acquisitions (starting
in 1995). The parent company is Applied Digital Solutions (ADSX), which
is a full service
telecommunications company.
Like Buy.com, Intellesale.com is in a highly competitive space: selling
refurbished and new computer equipment and related products. Again,
expect this to have difficulties over time.
The lead underwriter is Ladenburg Thalmann and the proposed ticker
symbol is SALE.
