Micromuse Files for $31-Million IPO

Micromuse Inc., a computer consultant to telecommunications and Internet service providers, filed for a $31-million initial public offering of an unspecified stake in the San Francisco-based company. The price and number of common shares weren’t disclosed in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The value of the transaction was estimated to calculate the filing fee. Also unknown is when Micromuse will turn a profit from managing computer networks, using software it developed called Netcool, the filing said. The company described Netcool as flexible enough to monitor an entire computer system for a large organization, with a graphic interface showing which parts of the system are used by which parts of the organization. Despite such big-name clients as Merrill Lynch & Co., the company has lost $9.2 million as of Sept. 30.