Tuesday August 1 7:22 PM ET
AOL Latin America IPO Delayed
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer
SPRINGFIELD, Va. (AP) - As America Online Inc. tries to increase its
presence in Mexico and parts of South America, it has been forced to cut the
price of its upcoming initial stock offering of America Online Latin America
Inc. (NasdaqNM:AOLA - news)
A spokeswoman at Salomon Smith Barney said Tuesday that the target range
for IPO shares of AOL Latin America has been lowered to between $8 and
$10 a share, down from the originally anticipated range of $15 to $17 a share
listed in the company's latest filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
The IPO, originally expected to price this week, will take place at the end of
this week or the beginning of next week, she said.
AOL-Latin America is actually a partnership between Dulles-based AOL
and Cisneros Group, a large media group in Latin America.
AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose declined to comment on AOL Latin America, citing the upcoming IPO.
AOL Latin America has been in business for about 18 months and is focusing its efforts in Brazil, Argentina and
Mexico.
One of AOL's competitors in the Latin market, New York-based Star Media, said AOL Latin America's
difficulty with its IPO doesn't reflect badly on the industry as a whole.
AOL will face difficulty in the Latin market because it charges a fee for Internet service while other established
providers offer a free service, Star Media said in a statement.
AOL is ``a very young company moving into a market space in which there are already well-entrenched ISP
players,'' Star Media said. |
