Vignette makes an IPO go

Vignette, maker of StoryServer Web management software, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of its common stock.

The company has proposed trading its stock under the "VIGN" ticker symbol on the Nasdaq National Market. Vignette expects to raise about $30 million through the IPO.

SEC documents show Vignette reported a net loss of $7.5 million or $1.19 a share for fiscal 1997, on revenue of $3 million. For the first half of 1998, the company posted a net loss of $9.7 million, or $1.17 per share, on revenues of $5.2 million.

Talk of a Vignette IPO first became public in May, when the company named Greg Peters chief executive.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter will serve as the managing underwriter of the offering. Investment banks Hambrecht & Quist and Dain Rauscher Wessels will serve as co-underwriters.

Vignette, based in Austin, Texas, has more than 150 employees.

(CNET: The Computer Network, publisher of News.com, owns an equity stake in Vignette. Portions of the StoryServer technology were developed by CNET and sold to Vignette in 1996 in exchange for stock in the company.)