NetSuite plans public offering
Hosted business software provider NetSuite Inc. hopes to raise US$75 million in an initial public offering.
The company, started in 1998 by two former Oracle Corp. executives, plans to use the money for working capital, to pay the balance of a line of credit and possibly to acquire other businesses or technologies, the company said in a filing made on Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
NetSuite, which targets its hosted CRM (customer relationship management) and ERP (enterprise resource planning) software at small and medium-size businesses, hasn't yet turned a profit. It reported revenue of $67.2 million and a net loss of $23.4 million for 2006
The company competes with giants like Salesforce.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., SAP AG and Intuit Inc. NetSuite also competes with Oracle, even though Oracle's founder and Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison, controls about 74 percent of NetSuite, individually and through his family members and an investment entity.
NetSuite notes that Ellison will continue to have control over most matters that require stockholder approval, such as the appointment of the majority of directors of the company and potential acquisitions. His interests could differ from other stockholders, NetSuite noted.
The SEC filing includes a long list of other risks to NetSuite's business in the future, including the likelihood of increased competition as more companies will probably enter the business. NetSuite will have to continue to convince medium-size businesses to use software as a service rather than buy software outright and the company will have to upsell to those customers in order to grow the business, it said in the filing.
NetSuite's success in the future also is dependant on companies that it relies on, including Oracle, which supplies database software that NetSuite uses, as well as telecommunications operators that deliver the service to end customers, the company said.
IDG News Service
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