In a surprise move, two vertical search sites, Kayak and SideStep decide to merge. The deal gives Kayak the heft, making it the fifth largest online travel destination. But that doesn’t mean it is immune from challenges posed by a slowing economy and its impact on the travel industry at large.
[qi:053] The floodgates are back open for tech IPOs. Since August – a seasonally sluggish month compounded this year with market turmoil – VMWare (VMW), MercadoLibre (MELI) and athenahealth (ATHN) went out with ecstatic receptions. The pipeline could start getting crowded.
There have been notable fizzles as well: HireRight (HIRE) and Orbitz (OWW) are below their offering prices. So this seems as good a time as any to trot out the old lectures about doing homework and reading prospectuses.
Okay, I’ll spare the lecturing, and instead offer five tricks I’ve found that can speed up the evaluation of IPO candidates and shorten the slog through hundreds of pages of legalese. These have worked for me, but are far from definitive. If you have others please share them below. Read More about 5 Tips To Spot A Hot (or Not) IPO
