One hopes for Credit Suisse First Boston's (CFSB) sake that its flotation of Datalex next week is easier than their efforts to float Aer Lingus will be.
CSFB, Goodbody and Robertson Stephens have the job of finding buyers for Datalex shares at between €7.61 and €8.31 ($12.50 to $14.50 for the Nasdaq-listed ADRs).
But since Datalex announced its planned initial public offering (IPO) last Friday, Nasdaq - already well down on its March high - has taken another tumble and, as this column was being compiled, was down almost 7 per cent from last Friday and heading further south.
Datalex is one of those companies which are very attractive if you have a lot of confidence in the dot.com generation but decidedly risky if you prefer the relative safety and security of the old economy stocks. The company is apparently optimistic about turning a profit within 18 months but has cautioned that profitability might be sacrificed for further investment.
Still, Dermot Desmond at IIU, Gerry Moloney at Enterprise Ireland and David Fassbender at ICC have a pretty good record when it comes to investment. Their decision to sell only small volumes of stock into the IPO is an endorsement of Datalex's potential. Still, not a stock for the widows and orphans.
