Crowded Field May Spell Trouble

With more than a dozen IPOs slated for next week, it may be too soon to say that
IPO stands for “Is the Party Over?” Investors will be able to pick and
choose among good offerings, but none that shout “Buy Me Now!”

ValueClick has gone up the underwriter value chain by switching over to
Goldman Sachs. ValueClick is an online advertisement specialist company,
one of the largest networks of Web sites for banner advertising.

ValueClick’s network consists of over 11,000 small- to medium-sized Web
sites. Its network, according to Media Metrix, serves ads that reach 25%
of U.S. Internet users.

In January, ValueClick delivered over 2.0 billion Web advertisements. It
also received $85 million from DoubleClick for a 30% equity stake. This was
a pretty savvy move, indicating that ValueClick probably has lots of
strategic value.

The proposed ticker symbol is VCLK. The price range is $11 to $13.

If it’s hard to get good help today, then look at this IPO. Opus360, based
in New York, helps corporations, professional services firms, staffing
vendors and other buyers of project-based talent to identify and hire
independent professionals, consultants and other knowledge workers.

They also have an exchange, Freeagent.com, which allows free agents to
identify and bid for projects. As of last December, they had more than 34,000
free agents that could bid on projects submitted by more than 680 organizations.
It’s a pretty cool idea and should generate interest from investors next
week.

Robertson Stephens is the lead underwriter. The price range is $9 to $11
and the proposed ticker symbol is OPUS.

Of course, once you’ve hired, you can have other problems.

Websense provides Internet-filtering software and related services so that
businesses can monitor and manage how their employees use the Internet.
It’s Big Brother. But, hey, it makes money.

IDC estimates that more than 30 percent of employee Internet activity in the workplace
is non-work-related. This personal use of company Internet access results
in lost productivity and increased network bandwidth consumption.

As of January, more than 7,500 organizations in over 50 countries are using
Websense technology. This includes American Express Co., Coca-Cola Co.,
Compaq Computer Corp., and Deloitte & Touche LLP.

Chase H&Q is the lead underwriter. The proposed ticker symbol is WBSN and
the price range is $12 to $14.

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