ClickSoftware gains in debut

ClickSoftware (Nasdaq: CKSW) edged up 1/32 to 7 1/32 in debut after it priced shares at $7, below their range of $9 to $11 a share for trading Thursday.

"Its in a good category," said Kenan Pollack of IPO Central. "Its listing Siebel as a competitor, which has been on a tear lately," he added. The category may be a bit out of vogue now though, Pollack added; Firepond (Nasdaq: FIRE) and Witness Systems (Nasdaq: WITS) all had their IPOs a few months ago.

The company's partnerships with Agilent (NYSE: A) and Compaq (NYSE: CPQ) also put it in good stead. There's also the speculation that ClickSoftware would make a good acquisition for Sieble or SAP.

Like most companies going public, ClickSoftware has hefty losses. For 1999, the company lost $8 million on sales of $10.3 million.

The Israel-based company is 23 percent owned by Oak Investment Partners; co-founder and CEO Moshe Ben-Bassat owns 22 percent.

Its competitors include Inference Corp. (Nasdaq: INFR), Peregrine (Nasdaq: PRGN) and Siebel Systems (Nasdaq: SEBL) according to Hoover's Online.

Lead underwriter for the deal is Lehman Brothers. >