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IPO ROUNDUP: Eprise surges, Viasystems falls

3 min read

Eprise (Nasdaq: EPRS), a Web content management software and services company, rose 10 1/4 to 25 1/4, after it priced its 4 million IPO shares at $15.

Shares priced above the raised range of $12 to $14 a share. The original estimated range had been $8 to $10 a share.

This should do well since it's a "tool-set" type stock, said Kenan Pollack of IPO Central, who compared it to other recent IPO successes like Vignette (Nasdaq: VIGN) and Broadvision (Nasdaq: BVSN)

"It's a category that's been rediscovered and widely supported; these companies are giving the picks and shovels to those doing the gold digging," he said.

Eprise Participant Server, the company's core product, allows customers to keep their Web sites up to date without the need for technical assistance or customization.

Though the company's revenue has grown considerably year-over-year, it has been outpaced by losses. For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, Eprise lost $6.4 million on revenue of $3.7 million, compared to a loss of $5.3 million on revenue of $807,000 in 1998.

Eprise listed Vignette, document management systems providers such as Documentum (Nasdaq: DCTM), and Interwoven (Nasdaq: IWOV), which provides and content management systems, as competitors.

Deustche Banc Alex Brown is the deal's lead underwriter, co-managers are Dain Rauscher and SoundView Technology.

Among other IPOs on Friday:

  • Viasystems Group (NYSE: VG) slid 1 3/4 to 19 1/4 after pricing its offering of 44 million shares at $21 a piece.

    The company, which makes printed circuit board (PCB) and backpanel assemblies to the telecommunications, computer, automotive, and consumer electronics industries has big-name customers such as Lucent (NYSE: LU), which accounts for about one-third of sales, and General Electric (NYSE GE), which accounts for 10 percent.

    Viasystems has big losses, but revenue has surpassed the billion dollar mark for the past two years. In 1999, the company had a loss of $726 million on revenue of $1.1 billion, compared to a loss of $88 million on revenue of $1.0 billion in 1998.

    The company's competitors include Hadco (NYSE: HDC), Molex (Nasdaq: MOLX), and Sanmina (Nasdaq: SANM) according to Hoover's Online.

    Lead underwriter for the deal is Morgan StanleyDean Witter; Credit Suisse First Boston and Chase H&Q will serve as co-managers.

  • Etinuum (Nasdaq: ETIN) rose 3/8 to 12 3/8, after pricing its 4.5 million shares at $12 each, the top of their $10 to $12 range.

    For the year ended Decemer 31, pro forma net loss was $13.9 million on revenue of $26.7 million, compared to a loss of $11.5 million on revenue of $17.6 million in 1998.

    The company, formerly Intek Information, provides e-commerce applications development and consulting. The company competes with a slew of other services companies, such as Electronic Data Systems (NYSE: EDS) and web consulting firms such as Agency.com (Nasdaq: ACOM), Diamond Technology Partners (Nasdaq: DTPI), iXL Enterprises (Nasdaq: IIXL), Proxicom (Nasdaq: PXCM), Razorfish (Nasdaq: RAZF), Scient (Nasdaq: SCNT), USWeb/CKS (Nasdaq: USWB) and US Interactive (Nasdaq: USIT). It also competes with large systems integrators, such as Andersen Consulting.

    Chase Hambrecht & Quist is the deal's lead underwriter; Robertson Stephens, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray and Wit Capital are all co-managers.

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