Japanese E-Mail Service Crayfish Zooms 425%

Japanese e-mail services provider Crayfish Co. powered 425% higher Wednesday on expectations of an Asian Internet explosion, making it the 10th-largest first-day gainer in new-issue history.

American depositary receipts of Crayfish closed at $126 after pricing at $24. ADRs allow U.S. investors to trade more easily in equity of foreign companies.

“Japan is in its first infant steps in terms of e-mail, and Crayfish is at the beginning of it all,” said Corey Ostman, chief technology officer at Ostman’s Alert-IPO.

The Crayfish issue (ticker symbol: CRFH) overshadowed the day’s two other initial public offerings, Internet and telephone services provider FirstWorld Communications Inc. (FWIS) and online printing firm IPrint.com Inc. (IPRT), which also rose.

Redwood City, Calif.-based IPrint.com climbed $5.75 to close at $15.75, and Greenwood, Colo.-based FirstWorld rose $8, or 47%, to close at $25.

Crayfish, working with underwriter Morgan Stanley, offered 4.35 million ADRs, each representing 1/5,000th of a common share in the company. The company raised more than $106 million through the deal and had a market capitalization of roughly $6.4 billion based on its closing stock price.