Tibco Software Inc, the Palo Alto real-time middleware company, is trying to recruit a manager to handle the company’s long awaited IPO – though majority owner Reuters Group Plc claims no decision has been taken to float the company. After revealing the company’s annual figures yesterday, Reuters chief executive Peter Job told analysts: We will consider floating Tibco Software but the board has not decided to do so yet. However, among the job vacancies advertised on Tibco’s web site, is a manager, stock administration. Applicants are told that they will be required to support the IPO process, manage proxy and annual meetings and establish brokerage and transfer agent relationships. After another typically modest year, which saw Reuters revenues rise 5% and pre-tax profits rise 7%, Tibco increased its revenues by 22.7% to $167m. Reuters bought Tibco – then known as Teknekron Software Systems – for $124m in 1994 and an IPO was always on the agenda. Under a reorganization agreed in 1996, Tibco staff have an option to buy 26% of outstanding shares (CI No 3,459). The market reacted to the results by pushing the shares almost 4% lower to 833 pence. Minority shareholders Cisco Systems Inc, with an 8% holding and Mayfield Venture Capital Fund, which has a 5% stake, are also unable to capitalize on the full market value of their holdings. Tibco remains active in releasing new products and has just announced Tibco.net, designed to enable businesses to tap into external sources of information, integrate them with internal information, and then make it accessible in real-time to customers, partners and employees via internet browsers, pagers and cell phones. Tibco.net is designed to capitalize on Tibco’s experience of delivering content in real-time. We say that if your web site is not real-time, it’s history, says Tibco chairman and CEO Vivek Ranadive.
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