Hoover's Raises $42 Million in Offering

-- Publishers Weekly, 8/2/1999

Hoover's Inc. went public July 21 at $14 per share, the high end of the $12€“$14 per share range at which the company had expected to price its shares. The offering raised a total of $45.5 million, with Hoover's netting about $42 million. The company has indicated that it plans to use the proceeds to fund increased marketing efforts, for development of Hoover's Online and for possible acquisitions (News, June 7). On its first day of trading, Hoover's stock hit a high of $33 per share before closing at $22. Its stock was selling at $13.82 on July 28.

The company, which had sales of $9.2 million and a net loss of $2.2 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999, reported that sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2000, which ended June 30, 1999, jumped 70% to $3.2 million; its net loss fell to $1.8 million at a faster rate, 152%.