NEW YORK -- The
second time wasnt exactly a charm, but TRX, the Atlanta-based
technology company, completed an initial public offering and its
stock, TRXI, began trading on Nasdaq Sept. 27.
In March 2001, the
company withdrew an IPO, citing unfavorable market
conditions.
This time around, the IPO came to
fruition, but the offer price, $9 per share, may have been
disappointing to the company. The IPO originally was priced at $11
to $13 per share but was trimmed to $9 to $11 per share before the
stocks debut.
The company offered
6.8 million shares, but only gets the proceeds from half of them.
Thats because 3.4 million of the shares were sold by existing
shareholders, including BCD Technology (which owns WorldTravel
BTI), Hogg Robinson Holdings and Sabre, and TRX doesnt receive
proceeds from those offerings.
TRX, which provides
transaction-processing and data-integration services to the travel
industry, and markets a corporate self-booking tool, Resx, plans to
use the proceeds for general corporate purposes.
In Securities and
Exchange Commission disclosures prior to the IPO, the
then-privately held company noted that it posted net losses of $9.4
million, $4.4 million and $11.2 million in 2002, 2003 and 2004,
respectively.
In 2004, more than
half of TRXs revenue came from Expedia, for which it performed
transaction processing for Expedias vacation package, corporate
travel and cruise businesses.
To contact
reporter Dennis Schaal, send e-mail to[email protected].