Flycast Communications Files for IPO

Online ad network Flycast Communications Corp. filed for an initial public offering of stock that could raise as much as $40 million for the Web advertising company.

The San Francisco-based company combines unsold advertising space, mostly on small- to medium-sized Web sites, and uses its AdExchange software to match available space with marketers’ needs.

The company has agreements with SBC Communications Inc., the No. 2 U.S. local phone company, and BellSouth Corp., the No. 4 U.S. local phone company, to provide space that the regional Bell companies will offer to businesses that want to advertise locally.

Flycast’s software helps measure the response to ads, allowing the company to adjust advertising campaigns as needed.

Like the other public Web-advertising firms, Flycast isn’t profitable, according to a Bloomberg News report. The company last year lost $9.3 million on revenue of $8 million. Furthermore, the company said in its filing that it expects to keep losing money “for the foreseeable future.”

Flycast didn’t say how many common shares it plans to sell or what price it expects the stock to fetch in the IPO. It estimated the offering’s top value at $40.25 million only as a basis for calculating the SEC filing fee, Bloomberg said.

The registration statement didn’t say what percentage of the company is being offered to new investors. Officers and board members will maintain enough of a stake so that they “may be able to control” all shareholder votes, the filing said.

BT Alex. Brown Inc. will underwrite the stock sale, with Dain Rauscher Wessels and Hambrecht & Quist LLC. Flycast plans to have the shares listed for trading on Nasdaq under the symbol FCST.