Graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp, based in Santa Clara, California, is expected to go for its public offering next week or shortly afterwards, according to the IPO Monitor web site. The lead underwriter is Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, and Nvidia plans to offer 3,500,000 shares with a price range of between $7 and $9. The company hopes to raise $31.5m, and has an estimated market value of $257.1m. The road to a public offering hasn’t been without obstacles for Nvidia. The company has been sued over alleged patent infringements by Silicon Graphics Inc, S3 Inc and 3Dfx Interactive Inc last year. Then, in December 3dfx announced that it would acquire STB Systems Inc in a $141m deal (CI No 3,559). STB is Nvdia’s largest customer. It uses the Riva 128 graphics chips as the basis for its Velocity 128 board, shipped to PC manufacturers such as Compaq Computer Corp, Dell Computer Corp and Gateway Inc. If the purchase goes through, it must put Nvidia’s future business with STB in doubt. Nvidia does have a direct relationship with Gateway for Riva TNT 2D/3D video accelerator, and also won OEM deals with Micron Electronics Inc and NEC Computer Systems Inc last year. In addition, it signed a deal with Gainward Co, one of Taiwan’s top producer of graphic cards and among the top five worldwide, to use the Riva TNT (although Gainward is said to have a similar deal with S3). Meanwhile Canopus Corp, a San Jose board maker, recently discontinued its Spectra 2500 board using the Riva TNT because of plummeting margins.
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