Inktomi Corp, the network caching server and search engine company, launched its initial public offering of 2.25 million shares at a price of $18. Of the total, 2.0 million shares were offered by the San Mateo, California-based company, and the rest by selling shareholders, raising a total of $40.6m and netting the company $35.3m after expenses. A roughly 11% stake in the company is now in public hands and the offering price gives it a market capitalization of about $370m. Lead underwriter Goldman, Sachs & Co upped the offering price range ahead of the offer to $16-$18 from $12-$14. The shares were very well-received, trading as high as $38.625 – a 114.6% rise from the offering price – before closing the day at an impressive $36 on a total volume of 5.9 million shares. The reaction to the offering is considered to be particularly impressive, given the generally tough going for IPOs lately. According to its required S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in fiscal 1997 Inktomi posted a net loss of $8.7m on revenue of $5.8m. The shares are trading on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol INKT.
