Catalina Gains 40% Increase in Value of Shares

Catalina Marketing Corp., a major provider of electronic promotion services to supermarket chains, jumped into the stock market with a splash Friday when its shares gained a hefty 40% in value on the first day of trading.

Catalina issued 2.2 million shares at $20 apiece, and the stock closed at $28 in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company issued 500,000 shares in the initial offering, and 1.7 million shares were offered by current shareholders, including Pacific Telecom, which sold 1.03 million shares, Xerox Corp., which sold 100,000 shares, and a group of 18 Catalina officers and directors, who together sold 228,998 shares.

The company said it would use its share of the proceeds from the offering to finance expansion and for general corporate expenses. The company also plans to spend $1.7 million to repurchase warrants that give the warrant holders the right to buy 136,184 shares of common stock.

Company representatives were unavailable for comment Friday.

Catalina provides advertising to manufacturers in the form of coupons printed on supermarket tapes and given to customers when they pay for purchases at the checkout counter.

In 1991, Catalina distributed more than 780 million coupons through 4,189 supermarkets in United States, according to the company’s prospectus.