Softship Issues IPO At $3.42 Per Share

June 19, 2001

German software company Softship will issue shares in its initial public offering at $3.42 per share, below the company's $4.50-$5.35 bookbuilding range, the lead underwriter said on Tuesday.

Andreas Beyer, CEO at VEM Virtuelle Emissionshaus, reportedly said the company would delay its initial public offering by one day to June 22 to allow investors to place orders for the stock at the reduced issue price.

Due to adverse market conditions, Softship, which makes software for the shipping industry, will not be listed in the small-cap SMAX index but on stock exchange's official trading segment.

The company's lower-than-expected issue price comes amid an increasingly unfavorable market environment for IPOs in Germany.

Hamburg-based Softship plans to issue 750,000 shares as part of a capital increase, which will bring its freefloat to 44 percent.

The company said it planned to use expected IPO proceeds of around three million euros ($2.57 million) to expand its marketing and sales network.