Mark, some IPO's look good.
>New York, July 28 (Bloomberg) -- Corvis Corp. shares are expected to surge after the maker of equipment for fiber-optic networks raised $1.14 billion in an initial public offering, a record for a company that's yet to take in revenue.
Corvis sold 31.6 million shares at $36 each, raising almost three times as much as it was planning just three days ago. By Tuesday, Corvis had received enough demand to increase its indicated price range for the 27.5 million shares it planned to sell to $28 to $30.
``The future for Corvis looks pretty good,'' said Steve Catricks, analyst with Blackrock Inc.'s emerging growth team. ``It will probably become a top-tier optical networking company.''
The IPO, managed by Credit Suisse First Boston, was the largest for a U.S. company that hasn't reported revenue, according to CommScan LLC, whose records date back to 1990. The company is benefiting from investor enthusiasm for the market for fiber-optic equipment and parts as demand for Internet capacity surges. Avici Systems Inc., a maker of high-capacity data-traffic routers, raised $217 million today in an initial public offering, after twice boosting the sale to meet robust demand.
Avici shares, too, are likely to gain, Catricks said. Avici sold 7 million shares at $31 apiece, above the $28 to $30 price range set on Monday by its bank, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. The price was above the original range of $18 to $20 set in June.
Corvis' IPO was the biggest of nine sales last night, the most companies in a single day since February, according to CommScan's figures. First-day gains for many may be constrained, though, by sliding technology stocks. The Nasdaq Composite index fell as much as 1.1 percent in early trading, extending its slide this week to 7 percent.
Jul/28/2000 10:30 ET |
