Yesmail.com Inc., an Internet marketing
firm that delivers opt-in e-mail ads, filed for an initial public offering
that could raise as much as $46 million.
The company said it has built a readership base of more than 5 million
people. It delivered 1.3 million ads in the first quarter this year,
according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Clients have included eToys Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and McDonald’s Corp.,
the world’s biggest restaurant company, according to Bloomberg News.
Founded in 1995 as Superhighway Consulting Inc. and recently doing business
as WebPromote, the company changed its name to yesmail.com in May. Permission
e-mail marketing has accounted for less than half of its revenue so far,
according to the filing.
The company reported a 59 percent revenue increase in the first quarter,
rising to $1.4 million from $873,000 in last year’s first quarter. Meanwhile,
its net loss widened to about $1.2 million, or 6 cents a share, from
$192,000, or 1 cent a share, in the first quarter of last year. The company
said operating losses will continue “at least through the year 2000.”
Yesmail.com didn’t say exactly how many shares it plans to sell or what price
it expects to seek for them in the IPO. The $46 million top value for the
offering was estimated only as a basis for calculating the SEC filing fee.
The company didn’t say how much it expects to receive, after expenses, and
listed no specific use for the money.
The company hired Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown to underwrite the stock sale,
with Thomas Weisel Partners LLC and Volpe Brown Whelan & Co. Yesmail.com
plans to have the shares listed for trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under
the symbol YESM.
