NEW YORK-In a market environment Wall Street bankers view as difficult for companies wishing to go public, at least two firms serving the wireless industry have cleared that hurdle so far this month.
Illuminet Holdings Inc., which calls itself the largest unaffiliated Signaling System 7 network provider in the country, raised $74.1 million Oct. 7 in a 3.9 million share initial public offering at $19 each, the high end of the expected price range.
On another side of the country in another sector of the industry, Daleen Technologies Inc., a Boca Raton, Fla., telecommunications billing company, debuted in the public stock market Oct. 1.
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter was lead underwriter for the Illuminet IPO, whose shares trade on Nasdaq.
Illuminet, based in Lacey, Wash., said proceeds will go to fund potential acquisitions, develop new and improved services, maintain and expand its network, repay outstanding debt and for general corporate purposes.
As of June 30, Illuminet counted among its customers: 268 independent telephone companies, 177 competitive local exchange carriers, 85 wireless carriers and 84 interexchange carriers.
Banc Boston Robertson Stephens lead managed Daleen Technologies’ Nasdaq-listed IPO. The company’s 4.1 million share offering sold at $12 apiece, also at the high end of its expected price range.
In 1997, Daleen introduced its BillPlex system, which enables telecommunications providers to manage billing, payment processing, call rating, service provisioning and customer care on a central Windows NT or UNIX operating system. Daleen said proceeds of its IPO will be used for product development, expansion of sales and marketing efforts and other general corporate purposes.
