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To: Susan Saline who wrote (22085)	9/21/1999 4:28:00 PM
From: U Up U Down	Respond to of 43080

IPO E.piphany, the Internet's next frontier? By Angela Moore NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Marketing software company E.piphany Inc. is poised to go public Wednesday, and analysts say the pending success of such companies is a sign that the e-business is maturing. ''We have a bunch of these plays coming out now,'' said Irv DeGraw, research director at WorldFinanceNet.com. ''As e-commerce begins to mature and become real business instead of lemonade-stand business, managing customers becomes an increasingly important function.'' E.piphany, founded in 1996, develops and makes software that companies use to market themselves and track customer buying habits via the Internet or traditional sales outlets. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company plans to offer 4 million shares for sale at an expected price range of $9 to $11 each, through lead underwriters Credit Suisse First Boston. The prospective trading symbol is ''EPNY'' (Nasdaq:EPNY - news) on Nasdaq. ''We expect this one to be 80 percent plus on the first day,'' said DeGraw. ''We believe it's a home run. It may not be a grand slam home run, but it's a home run.'' The company generates revenue by licensing its software and providing consulting, implementation and maintenance services. The product is marketed through E.piphany's salespeople and through third party agreements to resell the software. Competitors in this field include Brio Technology (Nasdaq:BRYO - news), Business Objects S.A. (Nasdaq:BOBJ - news), Oracle (Nasdaq:ORCL - news), Siebel Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:SEBL - news) and PeopleSoft Inc. (Nasdaq:PSFT - news). The company says many of its rivals have greater technical, financial, marketing and service resources than it does. The products, the prospectus said, could be more effective and may incorporate such capabilities as ''recording accounting transactions, customer orders, or inventory management data'' that would threaten E.piphany. E.piphany also integrates its products with the products of its competitors. If a competitor were to alter its product so it did not work in cooperation with E.piphany's, the change could harm E.piphany's business. The fact that industry leaders are using Epiphany's product is a good sign, however, some analysts say. ''They have a really hot product right now which has been adopted by a handful of really big name companies,'' said Paul Bard, an analyst with Renaissance Capital's IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund (Nasdaq:IPOSX - news). According to the company prospectus, E.piphany has licensed its products to DirecTV, Hewlett-Packard Co (NYSE:HWP - news), Hilton Hotels Corp. (NYSE:HLT - news), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), Sallie Mae (NYSE:SLM - news), Visio Corp. (Nasdaq:VSIO - news), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC - news) and another upcoming IPO, Agilent Technologies. Each licensee has agreed to purchase over $300,000 of software and services from E.piphany. Investment risks include a history of losses. The company says its limited operating history makes it difficult to foresee its future financial health and it may never become profitable. For the six months ended June 30, E.piphany reported a net loss of about $9.3 million, compared to a net loss of about $3.9 million for the year ago period.