|
PayPal IPO: Best first day
|
 |
February 15, 2002: 5:59 p.m. ET
Online payment service soars 55%; Salomon scores 2 IPOs this week.
|
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - PayPal Inc. scored the year's best first day gain for a new issue when it shot up nearly 55 percent on the Nasdaq Friday.
Shares of the online payment service hit a high of $22.44 and closed at $20.09, for a $7.09 gain from its $13 offer price.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based PayPal easily posted the best first day surpassing Synaptics (SYNA: up $0.31 to $15.07, Research, Estimates), a leading maker of interfaces, or "touch pads," for notebook computers. Synaptics rose 19 percent in its Feb. 1 debut.
But PayPal didn't outpace last year winner. Simplex Solutions (SPLX: down $0.37 to $11.49, Research, Estimates), a provider of verification software, rose nearly 77 percent last May, according to data from Dealogic.
The PayPal IPO is also one of the first successful offerings from a Web-related company in nearly a year. The last one, from LoudCloud Inc., gained only 3 percent in March 2001 and is off nearly 42 percent from its $6 IPO price.
Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen was behind the Loudcloud (LDCL: down $0.04 to $3.50, Research, Estimates) issue, which helps maintain a customer's Internet operations across various locations.
While PayPal, which is used by businesses or consumers to send payments online, experienced a more successful trip to market, the road was still rocky. Last week, PayPal delayed going public because of a lawsuit from CertCo Inc., alleging patent infringement.
New York-based CertCo provides security and risk management software for companies doing business online.
PayPal is popular with users of online auction sites such as eBay. About 68 percent of dollar volume made through the PayPal system comes from auction sites like eBay.
PayPal said Thursday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects CertCo to seek a preliminary injunction against it to shut PayPal down.
The IPO still raised $70.2 million late Thursday when it sold 5.4 million shares at $13 each, within its $12-to-$14 price range, via lead underwriter Salomon Smith Barney.
Salomon also served as book runner on the week's other big deal with the offering from GameStop Inc., which surged nearly 12 percent on Feb. 13. GameStop (GME: down $0.10 to $19.90, Research, Estimates), a unit of Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS: down $0.62 to $29.50, Research, Estimates), is the largest video game specialty retailer in the United States.
Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop sold 18.06 million shares at $18 each, the midpoint of its $17-to-$19 price range, through lead underwriter Salomon. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
