Priced at $15, the stock opened at $33. Then, there was a burst of buying, as the stock sailed to $52.50 and ended trading at $47.88. In all, the stock traded 14.2 million shares.
CS First Boston was the lead underwriter.
China Unicom was a mega offering, with 245.9 million shares issued on its IPO. The telecom company was once state-owned but was privatized in 1993. And the company has been benefiting from free-market forces. Last year, the company had revenues of $2 billion and profits of $89 million. What's more, its cell customer base has been soaring - going from 338,900 in 1997 to 4.2 million last year.
China Unicom's shares were priced last week at $19.99 and ended its first day of trading at $22.38. The company raised $4.9 billion.
Morgan Stanley was the lead underwriter.
After creating the handheld revolution with Palm, the founders of this innovation started their own company, Handspring, several years ago. Last week, Handspring went public. The company raised about $200 million.
Its price range had been $17 to $19, but interest was such that the company priced the deal at $20. The stock reached a high of $28.25, before ending the day at $26.94.
In the past two quarters, the company has been growing at a rapid pace. Revenues in the past quarter were $34 million, which was up 113 percent from the previous quarter. But the accumulated deficit is $49.2 million.
Credit Suisse First Boston was the lead underwriter.
Yet again, there was an IPO from India. This one was Silverline. The company specializes on Web development and customer relationship management.
Silverline's 5.2 million shares were priced at 25. The stock jumped as high as $30.75 before closing the day at 27.63.
Salomon Smith Barney was the lead underwriter.