Last month`s initial public offering (IPO) of www.google.com, the world`s most successful Internet search engine - and one of the most illustrious Internet businesses - has shown how IT businesses managed with classic business principles, will help to remove some of the tarnish these businesses have picked up from the dot-com era.
So said Douglas Reed, MD of DataPro, the soon-to-be-listed niche telco and premier Internet service provider. "Google raised $1.67 billion in the much-anticipated listing, meaning the company - as it sold 7.2% of its shares - is valued at $23.1 billion.
Although its rival, Yahoo, boasts a market capitalisation of $38.7 billion, Google has succeeded in putting some sparkle back into this market space, a market that has been viewed with much suspicion over recent times. Google might," said Reed, "form the vanguard of a new breed of successful Internet businesses - which is going to be extremely good for the technology market, including the telecommunications market space, over the next few months."
He said although it is unlikely that Internet and telecoms stocks will reach the stratospheric heights of the late 1990s, it is possible that the market perception could start to swing into a more positive mood.
"This and similar stocks are having a positive affect on the overall ICT industry, so any re-rating of the market is going to be good news for all ICT companies. The other achievement of note that is possibly helping to show that ICT stocks are not all vapourware, is the fact that Amazon.com is consistently making a profit. This comes after years of massive losses and after much market speculation about their chances of survival."
DataPro, which has received AltX approval for a listing, will list on the alternative stock exchange by October.
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