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IPO Highlights for Q1-2001:
Java jitters, crooked teeth, and no static
by Siu-Yee Ng
Bean counters at the Specialty Coffee Association of America claim that sales of brewed, whole bean and ground specialty coffee totaled approximately US$7.5 billion in 1999. Specialty coffeehouses grew in number from 500 in 1991 to over 12,000 in 2000. Consumers have been switching from swilling instant to whole bean specialty coffee in droves.
Peet’s, a coffee and tea chain with almost 60 specialty stores in four states (two-thirds in Northern California), sells its products in grocery stores and by mail order. (Yes, they have Web sales, too, but probably don’t play that up these days...)
Its closest competitor is Starbucks (SBUX:NASDAQ), which managed to have a stock gain of 48% with an increase in sales last year. (Hey, even unemployed dot-com geeks can still afford to pay two bucks for a cuppa Joe!)
The Peet’s offering will be made through the OpenIPO process, which will help stabilize the offering. So investors will not see a first day pop, but ideally a steady trend up. The company is expected to price 3.3 million shares between US$10 and US$14. For more information contact Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc., 1400 Park Avenue, Emeryville, CA 94608, tel. 510-594-2100, fax 510-594-2180.
Each year, approximately two million Americans — less than one percent of those afflicted with crooked teeth — spend approximately US$7 billion to have their pearly whites straightened. Align Technology Inc.’s Invisalign System corrects malocclusion without ceramic mounts or connected wires. Instead, they use an array of clear, removable dental aligners to move a patient’s teeth into the desired position.
The company received FDA clearance to market the Invisalign System in 1998, and started commercial sales of the system in July 1999. As of October 2000, more than 5,300 orthodontists had been trained to use the Invisalign System, representing over 60% of all U.S. and Canadian orthodontists.
Over 7,600 patients have begun treatment with the Invisalign System to date. The company is expected to price 10 million shares between US$14 and US$16. For more information on the technology or the company, contact Align Technology Inc., 851 Martin Avenue, Santa Clara, CA 95050, tel. 408 470-1000, toll free 888-822-5446, fax 408-470-1010.
Verizon Wireless serves more than 26 million mobile phone customers and about 3.5 million paging clients nationwide — the largest customer base of any U.S. wireless provider.
With low prices and increasing numbers of minutes included in pricing plans without additional charge, wireless service has become an affordable consumer product. Another plus: Verizon Wireless is owned by Verizon Communi-cations, the largest provider of wireline voice and data services in the U.S., and Vodafone Group Plc, one of the leading wireless telecommunications companies in the world.
This combination brings together the business and management teams of four well-recognized wireless franchises in the U.S. market: Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch, GTE Wireless and PrimeCo Personal Communications.
Because of market conditions, Verizon Wireless has postponed its IPO. But I believe that it will debut before June. For more information, contact Verizon Wireless Inc., 180 Washington Valley Road, Bedminster, NJ 07921, tel. 908-306-7000, fax 908-306-4388.
Siu-Yee Ng is the editor of IPO Trader, an IPO alert service that helps readers profit on IPOs and, more importantly, the IPO Aftermarket. Click here to find out how you can put Siu-Yee's expertise and extensive contacts to work for your portfolio.
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