|
Joshua Cho
The folks at interactive media company Wink Communications Inc. had a good idea last week that their initial public offering was going well.
According to the company's president and CEO Maggie Wilderotter, the number of shares offered went from an initial 4.2 million to 4.75 million to accommodate demand from large strategic investors like NBC, Thomson Consumer Electronics and others. The IPO was also priced at $16, on the upper range of the $14-$16 spread listed in one of the company's preliminary Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The offering opened at $31 per share Aug. 19.
"We're very pleased with the amount of demand," said Allan Thygesen, EVP sales and business development.
But one IPO expert last week said Wink's performance was unexpected.
"It's surprising. Wink tried to do their deal last year and were unable to get support for it," said IPO Reporter managing editor Steve Lacey. "They've come back this time with Microsoft as an investor and that clearly added a lot of enthusiasm to the deal."
While company execs admit that investors like Bill Gates and Paul Allen helped to boost the offering, they also said that the company didn't go public last year because of a softening IPO market.
"We took a pass last year," Wilderotter said. "We didn't need the money and wanted to do the IPO when the time was right. While the market is still rocky, it's better and we've got the momentum and the sponsorship"
The company said it would use the proceeds of the offering, estimated to be around $77 million, for working capital and a variety of general corporate purposes, including expansion of its sales and marketing efforts, research and development activities and its viewer response network. A portion of the proceeds could be used to fund revenue guarantees to industry participants.
According to Wilderotter, the first step after the IPO is a consumer awareness campaign, which will launch in October with some 60 interactive commercials from 15 advertisers.
Wink's Enhanced Broadcasting System enables network programmers and advertisers to enhance their shows and commercials with graphic overlays containing information relating to the existing show or commercial. Viewers can request information and can purchase products directly.
Wink top brass said the company has deals to launch its technology with Time Warner Cable, Comcast Corp., Cox Communications Inc., AT&T Broadband and Internet Services, Charter Communications Inc., Bresnan Communications Co. L.P. and Century Communications Corp. The company also recently signed a deal with DBS provider DirecTV. ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC have also signed agreements with Wink.
Back to this issue
|
