US domestic initial public offerings raised $6.27bn during the second quarter, according to a report issued by IPO Monitor. The number of companies launching IPOs during the quarter slipped to 110, down from a record 250 a year ago, including a significant drop-off for internet firms. Although fewer IPOs were launched in Q2, IPO Monitor notes a trend toward larger offerings with the $6.27bn raised easily eclipsing the total of $5.66bn from last year’s record quarter. Rambus Inc, Mountain View, California developer of high-speed memory chip interface technology, took top honors for the most successful IPO of the quarter (CI No 3,161), climbing 288% from the offering price of $12 to $46.50 on June 30. Other big winners included BEA Systems Inc (CI No 3,139), Sunnyvale, California middleware company, with a 204% increase since offering; LHS Group Inc (CI No 3,114), Atlanta- based provider of client server billing and customer care systems, with a 124% gain; and Objective Communications Inc (CI No 3,136), a Chantilly, Virginia developer of video communications technology, with an increase of 130%. Internet companies saw mixed results, with online computer auctioneer Onsale.com gaining 54%, while highly-touted Amazon.com (CI No 3,162) slumped to finish the quarter at only 2% above the offering price. Peapod Inc, the online grocery store, dropped 30% after a brief surge on the offering (CI No 3,181). For the record, the worst performance of the quarter was seen by Accelgraphics, San Jose-based graphics software developer, whose shares had dropped 54% by June 30.
