Vastera prices above range

Vastera (Nasdaq: VAST), which provides import/export consulting to businesses through an online database, priced its 6 million shares at $14 for trading Thursday. Shares priced above their upwardly revised range of $11-$13.

The company has a niche business, but serves a broad client base: over 200 companies, including Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), Ford, Lucent (NYSE: LU), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Nortel (NYSE: NT). On July 14, the company bought Ford Motor Company's global customs unit in exchange for 8 million of its shares.

For the 6 months ended June 30, the company had a net loss of $15.74 million on revenue of $13.44 million, compared to a net loss of $2.62 million on revenue of $9.13 million for the same period in 1998. Accumulated deficit as of June 30, 2000 was $82.8 million.

Following the IPO, Ford will own an additional 23.2 percent of the outstanding shares, making it the single largest stockholder.

Competitors will include content aggregators such as Dun & Bradstreet and TradeCompass; international trade logistics providers such as Capstan, Nextlinx, QRS Corporation and ClearCross; and trade consultants such as management consulting firms and law firms.

Deutsche Banc Alex Brown served as the lead underwriter for the deal; co-managers were Chase H&Q and Banc of America.
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