Beebs et al:
Here are some thumbnails on upcoming Internut IPOs from Briefing.com. Others include TMCS, AHWY,INSP, ABOV, and, would you believe, GEEK!
XOOM.COM INC (XMCM):Another high-profile Internet IPO is expected to be unleashed on the market within the next several weeks. Last Wednesday, Xoom.com filed an amended S-1/A Registration Statement proposing an initial $9 and $11 offer range. Bear Stearns will serve as lead-underwriter of the 3 million share offering. Xoom.com is a provider of Internet direct marketing services. The company attracts members to its community site with a variety of free services, including homepages, e-mail, chat rooms, clip art and software libraries and online greeting cards. Upon registration, members agree to receive periodic offers of products and services via e-mail. Each e-mail contains directions for removal from Xoom.com's address list, should the member wish to stop receiving offers. Media Metrix ranked Xoom.com the second fastest growing site on the Web measured by online reach in the first half of 1998 and the thirteenth most trafficked site in September 1998. The company currently derives approximately 70% of its revenues from e-commerce. The company was incorporated in April 1996, and began generating revenue in the first quarter of 1997. Since March 1998, Xoom.com has acquired three businesses: Paralogic Corp, Global Bridges Technologies and Pagecount, Inc. Competition in the Web-based communities space includes Tripod Inc (a subsidiary of Lycos), GeoCities (GCTY), theglobe.com (TGLO) and WhoWhere Inc. (another Lycos subsidiary).(ST98112315151)
UBID INC (UBID)Shares of Creative Computers (MALL 24 1/4 +6 3/8) are rallying on news the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, uBid, has filed its S-1/A form with the SEC to bring the company public. MALL shares have soared 30% since Briefing.com announced this news on the In Play page. Upon completion of the offering, Creative will own approximately 82.3% of the outstanding shares and 80.1% if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full. uBid plans to sell 1.58 mln shares in the Merrill Lynch-led offering. The question that many traders are asking is what is the value of Creative's stake in UBID at $50 or $60, or even $80 a share. However this is really not a appropriate method of assigning a value to Creative Computer shares. theglobe.com (TGLO 37 5/8 -2 13/16) may have rocketed to $97 on its first day, but the stock now trades 61% below that level. Hence, UBID could trade down dramatically from early price levels by the time insiders have an opportunity to sell. But, unlike many public companies which hold stakes in Internet IPOs, Creative plans to distribute its stake in uBid to MALL shareholders through a tax-free distribution. The distribution, however, will occur no sooner than 6 months after the close of the initial public offering. Specifically, uBid operates an online auction for excess merchandise, offering close-out and refurbished products to consumers and small to medium-sized businesses. The company currently conducts auctions seven days a week, offering an average of over 1000 total items per auction. The primary problem that uBid faces is that it is a fourth-tier player in a very crowded space. Already, OnSale (ONSL), Z-Auction, Egghead.com (EGGS), Surplus Auction and First Auction have branding that is stronger or almost as prominent as uBid's. As for uBid the stock, this group has really fallen out of favor, primarily because of the extremely skinny gross margins characteristic of the surplus auction market.(ST98111812351)
[Note: Briefing's comments were penned before yesterdays blastoff by ONSL] |
