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Syniverse debuts, doesn't take off

The $282-million the communications company brought in was a Tampa Bay best, but the price didn't move much.

By HELEN HUNTLEY
Published February 11, 2005

Syniverse Holdings Inc. made its public debut Thursday, raising $282-million in the largest initial public offering by a Tampa Bay public company.

However, the offering brought less than the communications company had hoped to attract. The offering was priced at $16 per share instead of the $20 to $22 projected when offering documents were filed in November.

Syniverse is the corporate parent of Syniverse Technologies Inc., a former subsidiary of GTE Corp. and later Verizon Communications, that was sold three years ago to senior executives and a group of private investors led by GTCR Golder Rauner LLC of Chicago.

The company's services make it a connecting point for hundreds of wireless telecommunications companies around the globe. It provides the technological backbone for such basic services as call delivery, billing and national and international roaming, as well as number portability that allows customers who switch carriers to keep their phone numbers.

The company's uniqueness made it difficult for investors to decide how much it was worth, said Charlie Uhrig, managing director of Raymond James & Associates, which was part of the underwriting group. Syniverse stock, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SVR, traded as high as $16.38 during the day Thursday, but ended at $16, precisely where it began.

"There weren't good comparable companies out there," Uhrig said. "Market conditions also affected it."

He noted that Syniverse was competing with some large offerings this week. One of them, Prestige Brands Holdings, which went public Thursday, involved the same Chicago investor group. The company, which owns consumer brands such as Comet and Chloraseptic, was priced at the top of its projected range and traded up $1.75 for the day.

Syniverse recorded $244-million in revenues for the nine months ended in September. It had net income of $10.8-million, which became a loss of $12.6-million after payment of preferred stock dividends. Part of the offering proceeds will be used to redeem the preferred stock and repay debt.

The company sold 17.6-million shares through an underwriting group managed by Lehman Brothers and Goldman, Sachs and Co. and co-managed by Bear, Stearns & Co.; Deutsche Bank Securities; Robert W. Baird and Co.; Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. and Raymond James & Associates. The underwriters have an option to buy 2.6-million more shares.

Syniverse chief executive G. Edward Evans is scheduled to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange this morning in recognition of the company's offering.

Times staff writer Louis Hau contributed to this report.

[Last modified February 11, 2005, 00:51:12]