Lycos Inc, the company with the software robot developed at Carnegie Mellon University for finding information on the Internet named after the wolf spider, got its initial public offer of 3m shares away at $16, the top of its $14 to $16 target range. Lead underwriter was Hambrecht & Quist Inc.
Unisys Corp, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania raised $425m before expenses for repayment of debt and working capital with a placing of 12% senior notes due 2003 in a private placing. The transaction was handled by Bear, Stearns & Co Inc and Merrill Lynch & Co.
Commenting on reports that it was headed for market, Hambrecht & Quist LLC, the San Francisco-based investment bank that specializes in high-tech companies, says it is considering going public, but said that discussions were exploratory – no decision is imminent, and all current discussions are very preliminary, the finance house said.
Siebe Plc is streamlining its German units Eckardt AG and Gestra AG: Eckardt has offered to buy the outstanding minority shares in Gestra for $212 a share at a total cost of $10.2m; Siebe, through its German subsidiary Deutsche Siebe GmbH currently owns about 90% of Gestra; Deutsche Siebe is to transfer those shares to Eckardt; Eckardt and Gestra will also pool their profits.
