Isilon, WSB and Clearwire IPOs raise millions, as more firms try the big launch - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

sunk-need.blogspot.com
"It's the strongest it's been since said Matt McIlwain, managing director with Seattle's Madrona Venture Group. Offerings in the last year by locaol companies suchas , , and have made stront debuts. Isilon, which makes storage systemas fordigital content, netted $105 million through its December offerinbg -- about $20 million more than the Seattle-based company But regulatory burdens -- plus the growing arrah of private-capital alternatives to going public -- make the climate for public offerings less than "I think it is encouraging, but said Jonathan Roberts, partner with , Seattle's largestt venture capital firm.
One company experiencing that fragilit y isApplied Precision, an Issaquah manufacturer of equipment for the semiconductodr and life sciences industries. After filing registration paperd with the Securities and Exchange Commissio n ayear ago, the company has decided to put its IPO plansd on hold. The 170-employee firm says a key index trackingg demand for semiconductorsis down. That makexs going public less lucrative. "We are not goingy to raise as much money as we woulxd if itwas up," said Marketing and Communications Manager Andy Snow.
Product deman d is not the only factor influencingIPO "There's other sources of capital that weren't availables 10 years ago," said McIlwain. Massive hedge along with private equity firms that are more willing to investt intechnology firms, are giving companies additionapl options for growth capital. That money can be particularlyy attractive because staying private meansbusinesses don't have to dive into the regulatoryy waters of public offerings.
Brad partner with Seattle-based privatse equity firm NorthwestCapital Appreciation, said companies are weighinyg the options that hedge and private equity funds offer even as they prepare to go One of his firm's companiexs has begun the IPO process, Creswell said, but at the same time is shoppingy itself to private investors to get the best deal "I don't know anybody who wouldn't take a privatr deal over a public deal," he said. Yet because the nationak economy is doing well and liquiditgyis strong, the markeyt is healthy for IPOs. "People have lots of monegy that needs to be put to Creswell said.
While the stockm prices for someof Seattle's most recent IPOs -- such as Northstad Neuroscience and -- have fallen from openinbg day trading, WSB Financial Group, which has also seen its stock pric fall since opening day, did raisw more than $40 million in December. "I thinl it was a strong IPO, to say the said Jim Bradshaw, an senior vice president at D.A. which was the lead manager on WSBFinancia Group's public offering. Clearwire, the wirelesas internet service provider founded byCraig McCaw, has probably been the Seattle'ss area's most visible recent IPO.
In March, the compant offered 24 million sharexs and raisedabout $564 The IPO is considered one of the largestg in Washington's history. The stock pric has fallen about 25 percent sinc ethe offering.