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Officials at Packard Bell Electronics Inc. have still not scheduled a launch date for the computer-maker's maiden stock offering, originally slated for late spring or early summer, a company spokesman said last week.
The launch was "postponed" indefinitely last month. Company officials blamed their decision on "weak market conditions."
The Chatsworth-based assembler of IBM-type personal computers is not alone among companies that recently delayed or killed initial public stock offerings as IPOs began to lose their luster on Wall Street.
"Market conditions weren't right--that's why we pulled the deal," said a source with underwriter Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co.
"Demand basically dried up for new issues," explained a Packard Bell spokesman, noting the weak investor interest in new stock that became apparent in the current quarter.
Some securities sources said the IPO was also hampered by red flags in the company's balance sheet. Company officials deny such speculation.
The IPO will be launched "when the marketplace conditions are more appropriate for proceeding," said the company's spokesman who, like the underwriting source, asked not to be named. They gave few other details about the deal's status, citing a federal securities...