4M float...Bank of America as lead UW...competitors are GSPN and VRTA.
(taken from WFN site)
Israeli designer of DSL chipsets
Metalink designs high performance DSL communications chipsets which are used in equipment made by Newbridge Networks and Siemens. Over 1 million chipsets have been sold and its HDSL chips are used by 70% of the European market including France Telecom, British Telecom, and Deutsche Telekom.
Under most conditions this should be a high demand IPO. However, it's yet another of the foreign IPOs for which electronic SEC filings are not available. Consequently, up to date information about the firm is very limited to US investors. Piecing together information from differing, non-SEC sources, this was a $9 million firm in 1998 with $1.1 million in losses. For a firm with such a command of the market, we'd expect a much stronger revenue and earnings record.
Valuations in this sector have been very favorable, with competitor Conexant Systems trading near the top of its 52 week range. Pre-offering demand is also being reported as strong. It's being driven by the strong comparable valuations and optimism over the expected demand for DSL technology. Under the circumstances, this deal is set up as an institutional play. Average investors need to be very cautious about this offering due to the absence of up to date information. They should also expect to be "in the dark" about continuing performance. Based on the limited information available, we expect a strong first day (50+%) followed by aftermarket volatility. However, this is a highly speculative deal which should be addressed with caution. |
