F5 Network's Ipo Lights Fire On First Day Of Public Trading

F5 Networks, a Seattle company whose software directs and manages Internet traffic, today saw its shares trade publicly at nearly a 50 percent premium to yesterday's $10 offering price.

The stock first traded hands at 8:50 a.m. Seattle time at $10.25. But the price quickly moved, reaching $14.359 seven minutes later. It ended the day at $14.875.

Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Hussey, 37, co-founded F5 three years ago. In 1993, he founded Pacific Comlink, an inter-exchange carrier providing Internet access and other services to the Pacific Rim. Later, he was a vice president of the Alexander Hutton Capital investment-banking company.

Hussey holds 16.8 percent of F5's shares, the largest individual holding. An offshore trust, Brittania Holdings, owns 21.8 percent. Using the closing price of $14.875, that puts F5's total worth at about $266 million and Hussey's holding at about $44.7 million.

A total of 3 million shares were sold, 2.86 million for the company and 140,000 for a shareholder. F5 realizes about $25 million from the sale, which was managed by the brokerages Hambrecht & Quist, BancBoston Robertson Stephens and Dain Rauscher Wessels.

F5 said it would use the cash to expand sales and marketing and for other purposes related to growing the company's business.

In its most recent fiscal year, F5 lost $3.7 million on sales of $4.9 million. Customers include such Internet providers as MCI WorldComm and PSINet. In one of its more visible roles, F5 managed Web traffic for the space-shuttle trip of U.S. Sen. John Glenn last fall.

The shares trade on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol FFIV.

Information from Bloomberg News is included in this report.