Last week, there were glimmers of the 1999-IPO environment; that is, crazy
first-day gains. Where did it come from? Well, of course, the company was
an infrastructure play: Accelerated Networks . It
soared an impressive 219.2 percent (that ranks as #60 on the IPO first-day
list). The company’s technology allows for the bundling of voice and data
services on broadband networks.
Priced at $15, the stock opened at $33. Then, there was a burst of buying,
as the stock sailed to $52.50 and ended trading at $47.88. In all, the
stock traded 14.2 million shares.
CS First Boston was the lead underwriter.
China Unicom was a mega offering, with 245.9 million shares
issued on its IPO. The telecom company was once state-owned but was
privatized in 1993. And the company has been benefiting from free-market
forces. Last year, the company had revenues of $2 billion and profits of
$89 million. What’s more, its cell customer base has been soaring – going
from 338,900 in 1997 to 4.2 million last year.
China Unicom’s shares were priced last week at $19.99 and ended its first
day of trading at $22.38. The company raised $4.9 billion.
Morgan Stanley was the lead underwriter.
After creating the handheld revolution with Palm, the founders of this
innovation started their own company,
Handspring , several
years ago. Last week, Handspring went public. The company raised about $200
million.
Its price range had been $17 to $19, but interest was such that the company
priced the deal at $20. The stock reached a high of $28.25, before ending
the day at $26.94.
In the past two quarters, the company has been growing at a rapid pace.
Revenues in the past quarter were $34 million, which was up 113 percent from
the previous quarter. But the accumulated deficit is $49.2 million.
Credit Suisse First Boston was the lead underwriter.
Yet again, there was an IPO from India. This one was
Silverline . The
company specializes on Web development and customer relationship management.
Silverline’s 5.2 million shares were priced at 25. The stock jumped as high
as $30.75 before closing the day at 27.63.
Salomon Smith Barney was the lead underwriter.
