Crystal decisions IPO looms large

MarketWatch: Business Intelligence, June 19, 2003

Canadian business intelligence software vendor Crystal Decisions Inc has filed an S-1 registration statement with the SEC to take the company public. But officials at the Palo Alto, California-based company remained tight-lipped about a precise timeline for any initial public offering of its common stock. An official statement read "the company expects to conduct the offering at such time as market conditions permit".

Crystal says its registration statement is currently under SEC review and it is unable to comment further other than saying that a portion of the shares will be issued and sold by Crystal, and a portion sold by a selling stockholder.

The offering, which will probably be in the region of around $175m, is being made through an underwriting group led by Goldman, Sachs & Co (as sole bookrunning lead manager), Morgan Stanley (as joint lead manager) and Citigroup Global Markets, Inc and Thomas Weisel Partners LLC (as co-managers).

The move will be a definitive one for Crystal, which has had three different names and owners during its 18-year history. In March 2001, the company broke away from its parent company--disk drive manufacturer Seagate Technology--and moved back into private ownership. Crystal subsequently emerged with one of the most valuable brands in the business (Crystal) and a competency in forging "blockbuster" OEM deals and partnerships, with the likes of SAP AG and Microsoft Corp. For its last full fiscal year, Crystal reported revenue of $217.2m, up nearly 30% over the prior year.