IIJI to list in Japan:
UPDATE 1-IIJ to list on Tokyo Mothers market in Dec
Wed Nov 9, 2005 02:53 AM ET
(Updates with official announcement)
(For an expanded IPO diary and data, click [JP/IPOMENU])
TOKYO, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ) (IIJI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it has won approval to list its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Mothers market next month, after scrapping the move earlier this year.
The Nasdaq-listed Internet access provider will issue 12,500 new shares ahead of the listing on Dec. 2. Some 7,500 will be sold by existing shareholders NIF Ventures Co. and JAFCO, both Japanese venture capital firms.
The share offering will be worth about 4.5 billion yen ($38.36 million), said an IIJ spokesman. But it could be bigger as an additional 3,000 shares will be offered under an over-allotment scheme.
The initial public offering (IPO) price will be set Nov. 24-28.
Tokyo-based IIJ was originally due to list on June 23, with the aim of raising some 1.9 billion yen. But the company withdrew the plan a week later after it failed to attract the required number of investors.
The firm has since taken measures, such as a share split, to attract more investors, it said.
IIJ said it has appointed Nomura Securities as its lead underwriter, replacing its previous lead manager, Daiwa Securities SMBC Co., an investment banking unit of Daiwa Securities Group. (8601.T: Quote, Profile, Research) .
IIJ listed on the U.S. Nasdaq market in August 1999.
That listing, at the height of the Internet bubble, was managed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) . The shares reached a high of $132.81 in December 1999 but have since fallen 92 percent as the company suffered losses amid tough price competition.
IIJ, 32-percent owned by dominant Japanese telephone company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (9432.T: Quote, Profile, Research) , turned profitable in the business year ended March 31 with an operating profit of 1.25 billion yen as revenues rose 7.5 percent.
The company's U.S.-traded ADRs (American Depositary Receipts), which hit a low of $2.26 in August 2004, closed down 5.2 percent at $10.27 on Wednesday. ($1=117.29 Yen) |
