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U.K. Net IPO fails to excite
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August 6, 1999: 7:38 a.m. ET
U.S. sell-off dulls luster of eXchange, U.K.'s second major Internet offering
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LONDON (CNNfn) - The sell-off in U.S. Internet stocks crossed the Atlantic Friday, dampening enthusiasm for the debut of Britain's second major Web IPO.
Stock in eXchange, which provides information and quotations to financial advisers, was 17 times oversubscribed when dealings began in London Friday. The shares jumped to an initial premium of 19 percent, which is fairly modest given the soaring debuts of some Internet IPOs.
The shares soon gave up most of their early gains however, and by mid-session the stock was at 212 pence, not far from the issue price of 200 pence.
eXchange stacked up particularly poorly with its only real rival as a major U.K. Internet IPO, Freeserve. Freeserve, which provides free Internet access, jumped more than 40 percent when it debuted in July. Its offer was 30 times oversubscribed.
Freeserve, which rapidly became Britain's most popular Internet access provider after its launch last September, currently trades at 205 pence, well above its 150 pence offer price.
At its 200 pence offer price, eXchange was valued at 407 million pounds ($659 million). The IPO was priced at slightly below the top of the indicative range of 170 pence to 207 pence. Freeserve was priced at the top of its range.
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eXchange
Freeserve
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