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ExactTarget Inc. will need to reveal much more about its $86-million initial public offering before analysts and investors can accurately assess the value proposition, one expert said today.
The Indianapolis-based e-mail marketing firm hasn’t disclosed details including the number of shares available and the price per share; that information probably won’t be forthcoming until February, said David Menlow, president of Millburn, N.J.-based IPOFinancial.com.
ExactTarget made the basics of its plan public to the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday.
ExactTarget is approaching Wall Street at a time technology companies aren’t favored as much as they once were.
“We’re hopeful this deal will work out, but we’re not looking for it to set the house on fire,” Menlow said. “I would say this is a work in progress.”
Jim Jay, president of Indiana information technology initiative Techpoint, called ExactTarget’s news “great for Indiana’s technology community.”
He noted it comes close on the heels of locally-based marketing software-maker Aprimo Inc.’s plan to raise $50 million through an IPO. Aprimo filed its intentions with the SEC in September.
“That’s our second one this year, so that beats anything we’ve done in years previous,” Jay said. “It just goes to show you can continue to grow technology businesses in the state of Indiana.”
Jeb Conrad, executive director of Indianapolis Economic Development, said that if ExactTarget outgrows its offices in the Guaranty Building on Monument Circle, it may have difficulty finding space nearby with as much historic character.
If Exact Target needed 40,000 square feet, for example, it would need to move several blocks from its prime location, Conrad said.
One potential spot would be a building at North 16th and Meridian streets that once housed a Lexington Automobile Co. showroom. Another would be the Gibson Building at Michigan Street and Capitol Avenue.
ExactTarget said it chose the location for its most recent move in order to attract the programmers and other professionals that it needs.
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