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Strategies & Market Trends : Cents and Sensibility - Kimberly and Friends' Consortium -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: EtTuBrute who wrote (38535)	12/5/1999 6:52:00 PM
From: JeanD	Respond to of 108040

ACOM and other IPOs this week... Sunday December 5, 2:02 pm Eastern Time IPO VIEW - IPOs rush to wrap up before Christmas By Angela Moore NEW YORK, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The IPO market is offering up one more heavy week as companies rush to wrap up deals ahead of the Christmas season, with a pair of technology offerings expected to heat up the Street. ``The general push at the end of the year is still going to be there, this is not a traditionally quiet period. Everyone has a sense of urgency to get everything in before the year ends,' said David Menlow, president of IPOfinancial.com in Millburn, N.J. Indeed, 11 initial public offerings are slated to price this week, raising about $585.2 million, compared to only five deals, worth $259.5 million, scheduled for the week of December 13, according to Thomson Financial Securities Data. The front runners are VA Linux Systems Inc., a provider of Linux-based systems and software, and Andover.Net Inc., an Internet destination for Linux/Open Source resources. Linux is a version of the Unix operating system that runs on Intel Corp. chips and other processors. ``Anything that is Linux-related and reasonably substantial is going to be extremely well-valued at this point,' said Irv DeGraw, research director at WorldFinanceNet.com, a Web site specializing in financial research. ``Anyone who missed this would have to be brain-dead.' VA Linux is expected to price 4.4 million shares at an expected range of $11 to $13 each in a deal led by Credit Suisse First Boston. Andover.Net, its counterpoint, will offer 4 million shares at a raised range of $15 to $18 per share through lead underwriter WR Hambrecht & Co. While Andover.Net is another Linux product, the offering will be conducted using a so-called ``Dutch auction' or ``open IPO' method, in which investors are able to bid on a stock rather than buying it at a fixed price. Online magazine Salon.com went public in June using the auction format. The IPO auction system aims to enable all those who want to be a part of the deal to get a piece of it. Internet consulting firm Agency.com Ltd. was hyped as one of the biggest deals for last week, but was moved to this week after more than doubling the expected price range from $10 to $12 per share to $22 to $24 per share. Agency.com helps create Internet business models, including distribution, marketing and Web design services. Another technology issue and analyst favorite, is FreeMarkets Inc., a firm which creates customized online auctions for corporate buyers of industrial parts, raw materials and commodities, and is poised to be a player in the lucrative business-to-business Web commerce sector. FreeMarkets is expected to offer 4 million shares Thursday at an estimated range of $14 to $16 each, through lead underwriter Goldman Sachs. ``FreeMarkets is one of the plays in business-to-business Internet commerce world,' said Kenan Pollack of Hoover's Online, a unit of electronic company database Hoover's. ``People are waking up to see that the business-to-business world is where the real money is, although companies like Amazon.com get all the attention.' Argentine Internet network El Sitio Inc. is expected to debut this week and pounce on investor interest in foreign online service providers. Recent IPOs of foreign Internet companies, such as Terra Networks SA and StarMedia Network Inc. have been received with open arms, but some analysts are wary. ``They just bought 73,000 customers for $21 million from a company controlled by its CEO,' said DeGraw. ``It's a hot area, but not that great of a deal. The last thing you want to do is jump on a bandwagon when the bandwagon is going over a cliff.' But even the most bullish market can't sustain every offering. Plastic Surgery Co., which provides services to an alliance of 36 surgeons and is expected to price this week, cut its expected price range three times, settling at $7.50 to $8.50 per share. Sports headgear retailer Hat World Corp. withdrew its IPO Wednesday, citing market conditions. ``Thankfully, another blissful death,' said DeGraw. ``If only we can get Plastic Surgery to gracefully withdraw from this thing.'