PointCast said on Wednesday it withdrew its registration for an initial public stock offering in order to pursue negotiations with potential business partners.
PointCast, whose technology automatically sends up-to-the-second data over the Internet to computer users' screens, filed plans in May to sell shares to the public. Those plans, however, legally prevented it from negotiating deals with other companies, PointCast claimed Wednesday.
Other Internet-related companies like Infoseek and CNET, in the same period, lined up lucrative partnerships with traditional media companies such as Disney and GE's NBC networks. PointCast wanted some of the action.
"If you're going to have a discussion that might lead to someone buying a piece of you or making an investment, you can't do that when you're registered to sell securities to the public," said Dave Dorman, the company's CEO.
After a spate of high-profile Internet deals last month, PointCast was approached by several "much larger players" with business propositions, said Jaleh Bisharat, PointCast senior vice president of marketing.
Dorman would not name any potential partners, or say if PointCast was looking to be acquired. "It's just too early to tell."
Nevertheless, the company hinted that negotiations might involve Internet directories like Yahoo and Excite.
"The portal companies are realizing that there's nothing to differentiate them but brand, and that they need to add technical capabilities that set them apart," said Dorman.
Analysts had said there was also little interest in PointCast, which has never turned a profit.
"We've said 'push' was dead for the last two years," said Vernon Keenan, analyst at market researcher Zona Research.
Dorman downplayed speculation that the IPO was withdrawn due to lack of interest from Wall Street.
"We believed we could get this IPO done, and our underwriters believed it. We just decided these new opportunities were too good to pass up," he said.
The New York Times and others reported last year that PointCast turned down an acquisition offer from media conglomerate News Corp. for about US$400 million.
