"Internet IPOs Rush Back To Market"
NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Internet companies are again stars of the new issues market, with deals that were sidelined by investor jitters now rushing to benefit from renewed excitement.
Following unexpectedly riveting performances by new Internet stocks EarthWeb and theglobe.com, six cyberdeals that were in the initial public offerings pipeline for months have been scheduled for the next few weeks.
These companies have the standard, eye-catching characteristics of Internet deals. One company, Internet America, has GEEK as its ticker symbol; another company recently changed its name to Xoom.com from Xoom Inc.
Some of these deals are also typical of Internet issues in that they have no immediate plans to turn a profit.
But in spite of the stock market decline of recent months that sent the value of many once-hot IPOs below their offering price, analysts expect these upcoming cyberdeals to soar.
''It's hopes and dreams,'' said Ben Holmes, president of ipoPros in Boulder, Colorado. ''Deals are getting dusted off and pulled out of woodwork.''
''It's clear the quality of the company is having little impact on whether a deal is successful,'' said Ryan Jacob, manager of the Internet Fund. ''theglobe and EarthWeb were not top tier companies, and they did very well.''
EarthWeb and theglobe, both money losing companies, were trading Friday 3 and 5 times, respectively, above their IPO price two weeks ago.
As long as these and other hot Internet stocks continue to fly high, analysts expect the next series of cyberdeals to benefit.
The schedule of IPOs for the upcoming week is relatively slim in light of the Thanksgiving holiday. But the following six Internet-related companies are tentatively slated for the two weeks after that: Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, Internet auction company uBid, AboveNet Communications, InfoSpace.com, Internet America, and Xoom.com.
''The ones able to get out of the gate first will be advantaged,'' Jacob said..."
source: © Reuters Sun Nov 22 1998
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