NetSuite Anticipates IPO At $13-16, Gets Rare One-Letter Symbol

NetSuite, an on-demand software company controlled by Oracle (ORCL) chairman Larry Ellison, Wednesday provided some fresh detail on its long-awaited IPO. The company plans to sell 6.2 million shares at $13-$16 a share, with a potential sale of 565,000 additional shares by the company and 365,000 by existing holders for over-allotment options. The company will have 59.5 million shares after the offering, for a market cap at the high end of the range of about $952 million.

The stock will trade on the NYSE under the symbol (N), a rare one-letter designation. (That had been the symbol for the nickel processor Inco, which was acquired in 2006.) In case you are shopping around, the other one letter symbols not currently being used include H, I, J, L, P, U, V, W and Z.

After the offering about two thirds of the stock will be controlled by Ellison and trusts for two of his children. According to the offering, Ellison has created a limited liability corporation to hold his stake in the company; he will have no direct control over the position while he remains an officer or director of Oracle; and he has pledged to give control of the position to his charitable foundation upon his death.

NetSuite, a provider of on-demand CRM, ERP and e-commerce software and for small- and medium-sized businesses, reported revenue for the first 9 months of this year of $76.8 million, up from $47 million in the comparable period last year. The company has a year-to-date loss of $20.6 million.

According to Reuters, the road show for the IPO starts tomorrow. The deal, which is being managed by Credit Suisse and W.R. Hambrecht, will use an auction format.