MARKET SAVVY : Savvy Confidential: A Briefing for Investors : Latest Strength in Internet IPOs
Three California-based companies whose software is used in online commerce soared in their first day of trading, the latest sign of renewed interest in Internet initial public offerings.
E.piphany Inc. (ticker symbol: EPNY) and Broadbase Software Inc. (BBSW), both of which make software that helps companies analyze their customers’ viewing and online habits, tripled and doubled, respectively. Kana Communications Inc. (KANA), which makes software to manage large volumes of e-mail, more than tripled.
San Mateo-based E.piphany streaked $29.19 to close at $45.19, giving the company a market value of $1.2 billion. Menlo Park-based Broadbase leaped $13.25 to $27.25, giving it a value of $472 million. Palo Alto-based Kana zoomed $36.50 to $51.50, giving it a market capitalization of $1 billion. All trade on Nasdaq.
Other IPO news:
* Initial public offerings for two Web sites were priced Wednesday. Houston-based Ashford.com Inc. (ASFD) sold 6.25 million shares at $13 each, while Vernon Hills, Ill.-based Yesmail.com Inc. (YESM) sold 3.4 million shares at $11. Ashford sells luxury goods, and Yesmail sends e-mail ads to Internet users who agree to receive them. Both begin trading today.
* Taking an untraditional approach to the IPO market, Mountain View, Calif.-based LinuxOne Inc., which began distributing a version of the Linux “open-source” computer operating system this month, filed to raise about $23 million through a “self-underwritten” offering.
The company hopes to sell 3 million shares at $6 to $8 each, according to its SEC filing. Shares “will be offered for sale by our management” for 180 days, it said.
LinuxOne said the expected share price “was arbitrarily established by us” to raise about $23 million after expenses and “bears no relationship whatsoever to our assets, earnings, book value or other criteria of value.”
The company had no revenue, and a net loss of about $17,000, from its inception through July 31, the filing said.
* Investment bank Hambrecht & Quist Group is making its first foray into the mutual fund business by giving individuals a chance to invest in a portfolio of IPOs. The San Francisco-based company will begin selling the no-load H&Q; IPO & Emerging Company Fund via the Charles Schwab Corp. fund “supermarket” today.
