4 Firms Go Public on Busiest Day for IPOs Since 2000

Four initial public stock offerings were priced Monday in one of the busiest days for new shares in the last three years.

Wall Street’s strong rally this year is encouraging more privately held companies to try raising capital with stock offerings, analysts say. And investors increasingly are willing to take a chance on new issues.

The four IPOs that were priced Monday were the most since Dec. 7, 2000, when there were five sales, according to Bloomberg data.

Still, the revival is just beginning to pick up steam: The 49 IPOs that have come to market so far this year compare with 70 in 2002, according to Renaissance Capital of Greenwich, Conn. And last year was the slowest in more than a decade.

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The deals priced on Monday:

* Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. sold 10 million shares at $14 each. The Irving, Texas-based firm owns 16 TV stations. Its shares began trading late Monday on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol NXST and dipped to close at $13.25.

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* Pinnacle Airlines Corp., a regional carrier owned by Northwest Airlines Corp., sold 19.4 million shares at $14 each. Northwest is selling an 89% stake in Memphis-based Pinnacle through the IPO and might sell all its shares if there is enough demand. The stock will begin trading today on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol PNCL.

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* Conn’s Inc., a Beaumont, Texas-based home appliance and consumer electronics retailer, sold 4.15 million shares at $14 each. The stock will begin trading today on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol CONN.

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* Sirva Inc., an employee-relocation-services company serving major corporations, sold 21.1 million shares at $18.50. The Westmont, Ill.-based firm’s stock will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange starting today under the ticker symbol SIR.

Other companies whose IPOs are expected soon: Tercica Inc., a South San Francisco-based biotech firm that is developing drugs to treat diabetes, plans to sell 5 million shares at $14 to $16 each; Fremont, Calif.-based Synnex Corp., a computer-networking systems solutions company, plans to sell 5.4 million shares at $14 to $16 each; and Glastonbury, Conn.-based Open Solutions Inc., which specializes in software for financial firms, hopes to sell 5 million shares, also at $14 to $16 each.