Ticker Talk

MP3.com Inc. increased the size of its initial public offering Monday and disclosed that Groupe Arnault of France will buy almost 27% of the shares sold to investors. San Diego-based MP3.com, which operates a Web site for downloading music, will market its shares to investors at $16 to $18 each, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company, whose IPO is tentatively slated for next week, earlier said it would sell the shares at $9 to $11 each. MP3.com on Monday also raised the number of shares to be sold to 12.3 million from 9 million. The additional 3.3 million shares are being offered to Arkaro, a unit of Groupe Arnault. . . . The New York Stock Exchange, which has periodically considered converting to a for-profit company, is taking a closer look at selling shares to the public as the rival Nasdaq Stock Market does the same. The 207-year-old NYSE’s talks about going public have picked up in recent weeks after the National Assn. of Securities Dealers said it’s considering an offering for Nasdaq, a source said Monday.