Interactive Intelligence stands out in debut

Interactive Intelligence (Nasdaq: ININ) closed up 11 1/16, or 85 percent, to 24 1/16 in its debut Thursday. After pricing at $13 a share, the stock moved as high as $40 a share in early trading.

The 2.67 million shares were priced at the top of their estimated $11-$13 range. The IPO will be underwritten by Merrill Lynch. Co-managers are Hambrecht & Quist and USB Piper Jaffray.

The company, which makes software that integrates communication systems with information technology, is one of many enterprise software companies making its debut this week. Bluestone Software (Proposed ticker: BLSW) is expected to price Thursday for trading Friday.

For the six months ended June 30, 1999, Interactive Intelligence had a loss of 3.8 million on revenue of $5.5 million, compared to the net loss of $3.2 million on $3.0 million in revenue for the same period of 1998. The company has accumulated a loss of $18.8 million since its inception.

Risks cited in the regulatory filings include the company's reliance on Dialogic Corporation, its sole supplier of the voice processing boards that are necessary for the operation of EIC, its proprietary software. Intel Corporation recently acquired Dialogic Corporation.

After deductions, the company expects to earn about $29.1 million from its IPO. The company said it intends to spend proceeds on general purposes, and the repayment of debt, including about $7.3 million, owed to the company's principal stockholder, Dr. Donald E. Brown.

Reuters contributed to this report.