Inficon struggles in debut

Inficon (Nasdaq: IFCN), a Switzerland-based chip-equipment maker, was struggling to keep its head above water in its IPO Thursday. Shares were up 0.09 to 12.75 after the company priced shares at $12.66 per ADS (American Depository Share).

Shares for the initial public offering were originally expected to price between $11.11 and $13.05 per ADS.

The IPO market has been dry as of late, but Transmeta (Nasdaq: TMTA) found a flood of support in its debut debut.

Infinicon, which makes vacuum instrumentation used for chip manufacturing, is being spun off from Swiss conglomerate Unaxis, which will own about 14 percent of the company after its IPO.

For the fiscal year ended in December 1999, the company had sales of $130 million and net income of $7.4 million.

The deal's lead underwriter is CS First Boston and Arnhold Bleichroeder will act as co-manager.

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