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Lastminute sets IPO terms
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March 1, 2000: 7:22 a.m. ET
Online U.K. travel agency valued at up to $550M, below initial forecasts
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Lastminute.com, the high-profile U.K. online retailer, announced Wednesday the terms for a planned share offering which values the company at up to 345 million pounds ($550 million), some 15 percent below the top end of earlier forecasts.
The company's founders, Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane-Fox, have quickly become symbols of the new generation of Internet entrepreneurs in Britain, and the sale is viewed as a test of retail investors' appetite for Net-based stocks. The pair owns 20 percent of the stock.
Lastminute.com plans to issue 33 million new shares later this month, 22 percent of the enlarged capital, with listings in London and on the Nasdaq. The price range has been set between 190 and 230 pence and is due to be announced on Mar. 14, when trading is scheduled to start.
Lastminute provides an online travel agency and also takes commissions from the sale of entertainment and gift products. It has attracted high-profile investors such as airport operator BAA, leisure group Bass and hotel operator Starwood, as well as Intel and Sony Music Entertainment. The site launched in October 1998, and has launched in France, Germany and Sweden.
The offer price is at the lower end of market forecasts which had valued the company at up to 400 million pounds. An extensive marketing campaign has made lastminute.com one of the most widely-recognized Internet sites in Britain, and its registered user base of more than 1 million is expected to provide solid support for the retail share offer which opens Thursday.
The company also announced results for the fourth quarter, which showed sales rose to 409,000 pounds from 119,000 the quarter before. Analysts don't expect the company to make a profit until 2002.
Figures released Tuesday showed Lastminute was Britain's most visited travel website in January, but Expedia.co.uk grew fastest. 
--from staff and wire reports
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Lastminute.com
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