Te INFT deal is expected to be very well received:
biz.yahoo.com
Friday February 11, 2:04 pm Eastern Time
Inforte IPO expected to be red hot
By Yukari Iwatani
CHICAGO, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Amid a heavy demand for experts who can integrate Internet technology into businesses, technology consulting firm Inforte Corp.'s initial public offering could be hot, analysts said.
``All things being equal, it'll skyrocket in the after-market,' John Fitzgibbon Jr. with RedHerring.com, predicted. ``This one is going to reach the stars.'
Inforte, whose IPO is expected sometime next week, offers services that enable clients to use Internet technology to improve their businesses. Services include Internet strategy development, Web site development, technology integration into business operations and technology implementation.
``That whole area of Internet consulting and services, Web design and commerce is very much in vogue right now,' Kenan Pollack with Hoover's Online, said, pointing to Inforte's competitor, Organic Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:OGNC - news), successful IPO earlier this week as an example of the industry's popularity.
Organic debuted on Nasdaq on Thursday and saw its shares nearly double to 39-15/16 in its first day of trading even after the projected price range was raised.
With an offering of only 2 million shares, analysts say demand for Inforte stock could be even higher. The company will have about 11.7 million outstanding shares after the IPO.
If there were heavy demand for the shares, an underwriting group led by Goldman Sachs would have an option to buy 300,000 more shares.
The shares would be traded on Nasdaq under the symbol (NasdaqNM:INFT - news).
Chicago-based Inforte's shares are expected to be priced at $23-$25 and the company had predicted it would make about $43.7 million after expenses, which it would use for general corporate purposes especially working capital and capital expenditures.
But David Menlow, president of Millburn, N.J.-based IPOFinancial.com, said Inforte's shares, like Organic's, may see an upward IPO price range revision before their debut.
Menlow said he gave Inforte his highest opening premium expectation as well as the highest rating for short-to- intermediate term after-market performance.
He said Inforte's strong revenue growth, positive net income and ``pedigreed' client list will help the company. For the 1999 year, the company reported revenues of $30 million, up from $13.4 million in 1998.
Inforte's clients include Monsanto Co. (NYSE:MTC - news), Sun Microsystems Inc. (NasdaqNM:SUNW - news), and Intuit Inc. (NasdaqNM:INTU - news).
Its competitors include Organic, Scient Corp. (NasdaqNM:SCNT - news), and USWeb/CKS Corp. (NasdaqNM:USWB - news) as well as larger, more traditional companies like Andersen Consulting. |
