NetSuite on Thursday is expected to fill out its online development platform, part of its strategy to deliver industry-specific applications through partners.
The newly named NetSuite Business Operating System (NS-BOS) adds to the company's existing hosted development platform, notably with an integrated code debugger called SuiteScript D-Bug, which will start to be available next month.
With the NS-BOS, NetSuite is targeting independent software vendors (ISVs) with expertise in specific industries that are looking to create a software-as-a-service offering. In particular, the company is trying to enlist client/server application providers that need to create a hosted offering.
As part of its so-called vertical industry push, the company hired Michael Ni as vice president of industry solutions who will spearhead business development with ISVs.
CEO Zach Nelson said that NetSuite's development strategy differs from that of its primary competitor, Salesforce.com, in that NS-BOS' primary purpose is customizing the company's accounting, sales, and ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications.
"We're not talking about an Internet operating system where developers build random applications. It's really about building business applications that are embedded in NetSuite," Nelson said.
The tool itself will be free, but NetSuite will share revenue from applications with ISVs. The percentage will depend on the application provider, but will likely be about 50 percent of the price for NetSuite's applications, Nelson said.
Nelson said that there might be some resistance among the individual developers to use NS-BOS, which is closely tied to NetSuite applications, rather than their own tools.
But from a business perspective, the development platform offers the benefit of a hosted infrastructure and the same tools that NetSuite programmers use, he said.
NetSuite's IPO debut launched like a rocket Thursday morning--soaring skyward, only to plunge back to earth.
Shares of the highly anticipated IPO, which priced at $26 a share Wednesday, shot as high as $30 a share in early morning trading, only to fall below sea level to $23.86 a share. The shares have since stabilized a bit, trading slightly above its IPO price.
NetSuite and its investment bankers, which conducted an IPO auction in setting the price, won't be accused of leaving money on the table in raising as much capital as possible for the company.
NetSuite, an on-demand enterprise applications company backed by Oracle's Larry Ellison, happily started the day by opening the bell on the New York Stock Exchange, where the company trades under the ticker "N."
But NetSuite investors, however, may now be feeling a bit sober if they were expecting to ride the same continual bump up seen with the pricing range earlier in the week.
One report in MarketWatch cited an analyst who raised concerns that the enthusiasm investors exhibited during the IPO auction process may have taken steam away from the offering's debut.
For NetSuite's investors, they may be hoping the "N" in the ticker doesn't stand for nowhere.
NetSuite's IPO auction has apparently attracted strong interest from investors, as the company prepares to set the final IPO price after market close Wednesday.
The on-demand enterprise applications company, backed by Oracle's Larry Ellison, has raised its pricing range by 46 percent from its initial pricing range of $13 to $16 a share that was announced on December 5.
The range was raised Tuesday to $16 to $19 per share. And it was raised a second time Wednesday to $19 to $22 a share, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
NetSuite could begin trading as early as Thursday, under the ticker symbol "N" on the New York Stock Exchange.
Investors are apparently eager to snap up the 6.2 million shares that NetSuite is offering. NetSuite could raise as much as $136.4 million, should the initial public offering be priced at the high end of the range.
As the day progresses and the close of the market draws near, it will be interesting to see whether NetSuite again raises the price range before setting the final IPO price. And although, as the company notes, it reserves the right to change the final pricing date, it can't push it back much further given the holiday crunch time that's approaching.
Get those bidder paddles ready. NetSuite launched on Monday its long-anticipated IPO auction, with hopes of raising in excess of $99 million.
The auction, the first of NetSuite's four-step IPO process, is expected to close as early as December 19 at the market's close.
NetSuite, the on-demand applications company backed by Larry Ellison of Oracle fame, will then use the bid information to set a final IPO price, which will help it determine who should receive an allocation of shares.
For example, if a bidder wants 100 shares at $8 a share, another 100 shares at $10 a share, and finally another 100 shares at $15 a share, the bidder could potentially end of up with 200 shares and an outlay of $2,500, should NetSuite's IPO price at $10 a share.
NetSuite last week set an initial pricing range of $13 to $16 a share, but, of course, when all is said and done, auction participants may ultimately push the final IPO price above or below that range.
Do I hear $13? Now, do I hear $14? What about $15?
Larry Ellison's on-demand applications company, NetSuite, is getting ready to hit the road with its story for investors. The company set its initial pricing range on Wednesday, noting it hopes to raise up to $99.2 million.
NetSuite set an initial range of $13 to $16 a share for the 6.2 million shares it plans to release in its IPO, according to NetSuite's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The stock is slated to trade on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol "N."
NetSuite's IPO is currently planned for December 21, but The Wall Street Journal, citing observers, notes the offering could launch sooner, should investor interest be strong.
Investors have been glomming onto technology issues in a big way this year, with VMware, for example, rocking up to $55.50 a share on its first day of trading from its IPO price of $29 a share. On the international scene, business-to-business site Alibaba tripled its share price on its debut on the Hong Kong market.
NetSuite, however, may have initially run into some turbulence with its offering plans when it filed in July. Ellison's Tako Ventures, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lawrence Investments, and a family members hold a 74 percent stake in NetSuite. NetSuite had previously indicated that Tako would retain control of the company post-IPO. As a result, that would have meant that Ellison, CEO of Oracle, could nix a buyout of NetSuite, even if NetSuite investors or its management wanted to pursue that route.
But NetSuite since modified those plans in October, noting in a later SEC filing that Ellison planned to transfer Tako's stake into a "lock box," in which he would no longer have direct control over the company. Tako's stake was 60 percent at the end of the September quarter.
In the filing, the company noted: "We have been told that Mr. Ellison is making the transfer in view of his position and duties at Oracle, to effectively eliminate his voting control over the election of our directors and other matters, and to avoid potential future conflicts of interest that might otherwise arise."
Ellison may not have control over NetSuite, but that pain will likely be offset from the financial pop he'll get from the IPO.
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