Shares in iXL Enterprises Inc, the Atlanta, Georgia-based web site development and e-commerce company, jumped as much as 104% Thursday after the company’s initial public offering, before closing the day up 49% at $17.875. Volume was 13.8 million shares. iXL sold six million shares at $12 in an offering underwritten by Merrill Lynch, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, BancBoston Robertson Stephens and SG Cowen.
The IPO comes almost eighteen months after a third tranche of funding in which iXL raised $30m. The company used that venture capital cash for acquisitions, and it says that it will use the proceeds from the IPO for debt repayment, and also for working capital and possibly more acquisitions. General Electric Co is one of the company’s backers, with an estimated 8% stake after the IPO.
The company caters to the banking and financial services, healthcare, media, travel, and telecommunications sectors. It has made 34 acquisitions in order to provide a range of experience including internet business design, e-commerce, customer management, business information management, digital media and the creation of interactive learning environments.
iXL has around 1,500 employees with 17 offices located throughout the United States and in the UK, Germany and Spain. Its 1998 client-list included Gateway, Lucent, GE, BellSouth and WebMD.
