Hoover's IPO Scorecard Confirms Slowdown In New Offerings For Q1 2005

For Immediate Release

Number Of U.S. IPOs In First Quarter Increased By Only 11% From Same Quarter Last Year

AUSTIN, Texas - April 1, 2005 - If you charted the IPO market for Q1 2005, it would look like a bell curve - with January gearing up in the last half of the month, followed by a peak in February, then a steep decline in March. Forty U.S. companies went public in Q1 2005, raising $10.0 billion, as compared to the same quarter in 2004 when 36 companies went public, raising $7.8 billion. This number of IPOs represents only an 11 percent increase over Q1 2004, as reported today by Hoover's IPO Scorecard (www.hoovers.com/ipo/scorecard). Hoover's, Inc. (www.hoovers.com) is a leading provider of business insight.

February 2005 represented the bulk of Q1 IPO activity, with 25 offerings, followed by a steep drop off in March, when only six companies went public. "This decline is due to a number of factors, including skyrocketing oil prices, the unsteady stock market and an increase in merger and acquisition activity," said Rachel Brush, vice president of content for Hoover's. "As a result, a number of companies considering an IPO have instead opted to go the acquisition route, as long as the price is right."

Brush added, "Investors were anticipating strong IPO momentum heading into Q1 2005 since 2004 ended with such a bang." There were more IPOs in Q4 2004 (80) than in all of 2002 (76) or 2003 (78). Even though January 2005 started out a bit slow, it ushered in nine IPOs and turned out to be the best January for public offerings since 2000.

Statistics from Hoover's IPO Scorecard for the first quarter 2005:

• IPOs continue to represent a variety of industry sectors, including transportation services, pharmaceuticals, financial services and telecommunications, which accounted for 15 percent of Q1 2005 offerings.
• Looking to raise as much as $750 million, Warner Music Group Corp., one of the largest recording companies in the world and ranked third in terms of U.S. market share (behind Sony BMG and Universal Music Group), filed to go public in March.

Top Ten Best-Returning IPOs for Q1:

• Best First-Day Gain: International Securities Exchange, Inc. 69%
• Worst First-Day Drop: Icagen, Inc. -9%

Hoover's provides continuously updated information about thousands of private and public companies worldwide and analyzes the IPO market daily to produce the quarterly IPO Scorecard, a regular wrap-up of IPO activity, released on the IPO Central section of Hoover's. Each IPO Scorecard includes an assortment of facts selected by Hoover's editors for those following the IPO market, including the best- and worst-performing IPOs, the biggest one-day jumps and drops in the first day of trading, and a breakdown of IPOs by industry sector.

About Hoover's, Inc.

Hoover's, a D&B company, gives its customers a competitive edge with insightful information about industries, companies, and key decision makers. Hoover's provides this updated information for sales, marketing, business development, and other professionals who need intelligence on U.S. and global companies, industries, and the people who lead them. This information, along with powerful tools to search, sort, download and integrate the content, is available through Hoover's (www.hoovers.com), the company's premier online service. Hoover's business information is also available through corporate intranets and distribution agreements with licensees, as well as via print from Hoover's Business Press. Hoover's is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

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