iBasis Inc. –

BURLINGTON, Mass. – iBasis Inc., an Internet telephony company, went public November 10, offering 6.8 million shares at $16 apiece. The company’s stock priced well above its $12 to $14 filing range.

BancBoston Robertson Stephens & Co., Hambrecht & Quist Group and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray underwrote the initial public offering, which left 30.5 million shares outstanding.

Charles River Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Technology Crossover Ventures and Seruus Capital Partners were venture backers. There were no selling shareholders.

Carriers route calls to iBasis, which forwards the traffic across the Internet, circumventing access fees charged by other phone carriers. The company connects to the Internet at locations across the globe using equipment from systems partner Cisco Systems Inc. By outsourcing international communications services to iBasis, its customers are able to lower costs and generate new revenue.

The $99.8 million expected from the IPO will be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital and possible investments in or acquisitions of complementary businesses, products or technologies.

iBasis has never been profitable, losing $926,000 in 1997 and $5.7 million in 1998.

Charles Houser, a principal and managing director at Seruus Capital, joined the company’s board of directors in October 1997. John Jarve, a general partner and managing director at Menlo Ventures, joined the company’s board of directors in August 1998, along with Izhar Armony, a partner at Charles River.


iBasis – Selected Financial

(in thousands, except per share data)

August 2, 1996 Year Ended Nine Months Ended

(inception) December 31 September 30

to December 31, 1996 1997 1998 1998 1999

Total revenue 127 1,978 573 11,817

Net loss -76 -926 -5,727 -3,288 -13,535

Net loss per share -0.01 -0.15 -0.99 -0.56 -2.36