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Cyberian Outpost launches IPO

The company goes public and watches its shares gain more than 13 percent, as GeoCities' IPO waits in the wings.

Dawn Kawamoto Former Staff writer, CNET News
Dawn Kawamoto covered enterprise security and financial news relating to technology for CNET News.
Dawn Kawamoto
3 min read
Cyberian Outpost launched an initial public offering today, and saw its shares gain more than 13 percent on its first trade, as online community-builder GeoCities waited in the wings for its IPO, scheduled to launch in two weeks.

NetGrocer also jumped into the public fray today, filing for an IPO of its own. The online service, which allows customers to order dry goods and have them delivered, is looking to raise $37.9 million based on its registration fee. The company, which posted revenues of $406,639 and a net loss of $3 million for the quarter ended March 31, also is receiving an undisclosed investment from America Online via a private placement related to the pending IPO.

The public offering by Cyberian and the upcoming offering by GeoCities are expected to add to the hot summer of Internet IPOs, as the rest of the IPO market continues to suffer a lackluster season. The IPOs from Cyberian and GeoCities also come at a time when the tech-heavy Nasdaq has been edging down from a mid-July high, during which it topped the 2,000 mark.

Cyberian, which priced at 18 a share, soared to 25 on its first trade of the day--gaining almost 39 percent. It later settled back somewhat, closing the day at 20.5, up 2.5. The percentage of its first trade gain exceeded the performance of other IPOs during the month of July, which averaged an 18 percent gain, said Richard Peterson, an IPO analyst with Securities Data.

But the online computer retailer couldn't match the IPO of Broadcast.com, which priced at 18 a share and surged fourfold on its first trade of the day, to 74 a share.

Cyberian's IPO, based on the company's target price of 18 a share and 4 million shares floated out, raised $72 million in capital. The IPO also gave the company a market value of $396.3 million, based on its 22 million shares outstanding. Underwriters in the deal included BT Alex Brown, Montgomery Securities, and Dain Rauscher Wessels.

The company's performance may bode well for other Internet companies slated to go public. Cyberian's offering was priced on the high end of its latest pricing range of between $17 and $18 a share, a jump from its initial pricing range of between $13 and $15 a share.

Of the 47 IPOs floated this month, only six came out above their pricing range, while 16 came in below, Peterson said.

"Cyberian is the first one since Broadcast.com to get priced above its range," he added.

GeoCities, for its part, is expected to go public the week of August 10, a source said.

The company recently completed its European road show, during which its executives made presentations about its business to potential investors. On Monday and Tuesday, the road show moves to San Francisco and Los Angeles, before heading to the East Coast.

GeoCities is looking to raise up to $66.5 million with its initial public offering. The online community site said it wants to float out 4.75 million shares, and has set a pricing range of between $12 and $14 a share.