Ariba Technologies Inc, the Sunnyvale, California internet commerce company, has filed for an initial public offering on Nasdaq. The firm, which will trade under the symbol ARBA, is hoping to raise between $40m and $60m. The main underwriter is Morgan Stanley, with additional underwriting from BT Alex Brown, Dain Rauscher Wessels and Merrill Lynch. The IPO will help fund Ariba’s expansion in Europe, where it is currently present in the UK, Holland, Switzerland. Ben Wright, Ariba’s European marketing director, said that France and Spain are the most likely markets for new investment. Ariba is also eyeing the Asia-Pacific region, where it has regional representation but no direct presence.
Despite being in the middle of a quiet period ahead of the offering, Ariba has established a partnership with Hewlett-Packard that extends HP’s client status to technology partner. The two companies have set up Ariba Cooperative Technology Center in Boeblingen, Germany where they can work to improve the way Ariba’s e-commerce applications run on HP’s platforms. Wright says that Ariba wants to ensure that the apps are fully reliable even when they are extended to run on 100,000 desktops.
