Quintus IPO hits big
Software developing company's stock
finishes 200% over initial pricing
November 16, 1999: 7:24 p.m. ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The shares of software
developer Quintus Corp. jumped over 200 percent to
finish at $55 Tuesday after its initial public offering
was priced at $18 a share.
Quintus (QNTS) shares finished up 37 at 55,
making it one of the biggest gainers on the Nasdaq
stock market.
The Freemont, Calif.-based company raised about
$72 million with its offer of four million shares of
common stock in a deal led by Donaldson, Lufkin &
Jenrette. The IPO priced above its revised price range
of $15-$17 per share.
"Quintus is the moonshot of the day," said Jeff
Hirschkorn, an analyst at IPO.com. "While it's not
the greatest deal of the week, it had a great
underwriting team."
Quintus develops communications software that
helps companies manage high-volume contacts with
customers and provide customer service over the
Internet, electronic mail and other advanced
telephony systems, its filing said.
Analysts have said that as electronic commerce
continues its boom, businesses will be clamoring for
software systems that help them streamline client
databases and manage customer-relations services.
Hirschkorn said that, despite the company's net
losses, its customer base is the key to its success,
with top names including Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc.
(BUD), International Paper Co. (IP) and Lucent
Technologies Inc. (LU)
The company had $10.3 million in revenue during
the second quarter of 1999, yet posted $690,000 in
net losses during the same period, the filing said.
"This whole sector is booming and Quintus is
riding the wave. Everybody predicted a great debut,"
Hirschkorn said, referring to the market success of
similar companies.
"Certainly running unopposed in the IPO market
today is not a problem, and a kickoff for the week
that's expected to be a fairly hot week also not a
problem," said David Menlow, president of Millburn,
N.J.-based IPOfinancial.com, adding that pricing
above its revised price range also helped the deal.
Late last week, Quintus' expected price range
was raised from its original range of $12-$14 per
share, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission.
"It's got all the earmarkings of a good offering and
after-market sponsorship is showing it," Menlow said.
The company plans to use the proceeds to pay
holders of preferred stock, for working capital and for
general corporate purposes, it said in the filing.
Entities affiliated with DLJ Capital Corp. hold
about 43.3 percent of the shares in Quintus, while
entities affiliated with Oak Investment Partners hold
10.7 percent.
In September, Quintus said it would acquire
Acuity, a provider of software that helps manage
Internet-based customer interactions.
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