17.06.2011
Pandora soars on Wall Street debut
Pandora, which is trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "P," was priced at $16 and briefly surged to $26. It was trading at $20.05 at mid-day.
Pandora, which creates personalized radio stations for users based upon their favorite artists or songs, raised $235 million with its initial public offering and had a market value of $2.55 billion at its offer price.
A total of around six million shares were offered by Pandora while some 8.7 million were presented by selling stockholders.
Pandora, which is based in Oakland, California, was founded in 2000 but it has yet to turn a profit and some financial analysts were skeptical about the outlook for the company and its need to pay huge sums for music licenses.
The eagerness displayed recently for technology stocks, however, appeared to carry over into the Pandora offering, sending its share price up over 25 percent.
Business-oriented social network LinkedIn launched on the New York Stock Exchange a month ago and saw its stock price more than double on the first day.
Earlier this month, Pandora had estimated it would launch its stock at $7 to $9 before increasing the figure to $10-$12 and eventually to $16.
Nick Einhorn of Renaissance Capital said interest in Pandora's IPO stems from it being a well-known brand with more than 90 million users and a "fast-growing company that is a leader in the Internet radio market."
"The most successful recent IPOs have been unique, fast-growing companies that have a large opportunity such as LinkedIn or Fusion-io and I think that is true of Pandora," Einhorn said.
"They have room to increase the amount of advertising on their service," he added. "They currently average one minute of audio ads per hour of listening, compared to 13 minutes for traditional terrestrial radio, which would help them become profitable."
The bulk of Pandora's revenue comes from advertising, while about 14 percent of the money it takes in comes from subscriptions.
In an interview with the CNBC business network, Pandora chief executive Joe Kennedy said the company, which lost $11 million last year, has been improving operational margins and cash flow.
Kennedy declined to say, however, when he expected Pandora to be profitable.
"We're not putting any timeline on any of the financial milestones," he said.
Kennedy also said Pandora, which is currently only available in the United States, has global ambitions.
"Our vision is for Pandora to be a global service but we have to go country by country," he said. "We see global opportunities in the long run."
Pandora is available on smartphones, tablet computers like Apple's iPad, Amazon's Kindle e-reader and has been expanding into cars.
US automobile manufacturer Ford began integrating Pandora into selected models last year and other auto makers have followed suit.
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Second death at Tennessee's Bonnaroo festival
Alonso, the ranking officer at the command center during the festival cleanup on Monday, said he didn't know much about the latest death.
Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves was unavailable for comment, but was quoted by local media earlier as confirming the death of a young man and attributing it to hyperthermia, and saying he was awaiting toxicology reports.
The Coffee County Sheriff's dispatcher said a news release would be issued on Tuesday morning.
A statement released by Bonnaroo officials said: "The safety of our patrons is our No. 1 concern, and we are deeply saddened by this."
It was the second death at the 10th annual festival, held on 700 acres of former farmland in Manchester, about 85 miles southeast of Nashville.
The body of Beth Myers, 32, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was found by friends late on Thursday night, Graves had said.
"We are unsure if heat exhaustion or any type of heat-related illness played a part in it," said Captain Frank Watkins of the Coffee County Sheriff's Department, after that death first was reported.
Autopsy results have not been released.
Heat -- temperatures stayed in the 90s almost the whole four days of the fest -- was an issue, as about 1,500 of the 80,000 attendees were treated for heat-related illnesses, officials said.
There also were hundreds of drug citations issued.
The festival ended Sunday night with a performance by Widespread Panic.
(Editing by Jerry Norton)
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Hispanic Female Becomes CEO of $200 Million Business Supply Company
Brentwood, TN (PRWEB) June 15, 2011
In 1999 Maria Teresa “Tera” Vazquez joined Jay Chawan and Ashoke Mukherji as partners to launch Guy Brown Products, a manufacturer of reengineered toner cartridges. Vazquez was executive vice president of marketing at the time. Today she stands as the company’s president and chief executive officer.
As an individual, Vazquez is now a Hispanic female heading one of Tennessee’s largest companies; and also one of the nation’s largest minority-owned office supply companies.
In addition, her management skills led to her election as the first female president of the Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a position she has held for the past three years.
With annual revenues of over $190 million, Guy Brown Products provide office supplies, print solutions, furniture, promotional items and MRO needs. For more details, visit
Some of thefirm’s clients include: Volkswagen, Vanderbilt University, HealthTrust Purchasing Group, John Deere and many others. Guy Brown has been listed with Inc. 500 and the Nashville Future 50 for its rapid growth.
By consistently exceeding customer’s expectations on service and capabilities, the company has earned a series of awards. In 2010 Guy Brown received the CSX Transportation Valuable Partnership Recognition Award, and the 2010 Miller Coors Corporate Supplier of the Year Award. In 2009 and 2008 Boeing awarded the company its Performance Excellence Award. In years 2006, 2007 and 2008 the company received the John Deere Achieving Excellence Award.
Diversity Business.com listed the company as the “Top Business in Tennessee” in 2007. The US Small Business Administration awarded Guy Brown Products the “Administrator’s Award for Excellence” in 2006, 2005 and 2002 as well as naming it the Regional Small Business Subcontractor of the Year in 2006. Collecting these awards says quite a bit about the company, its leadership and its values.
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Peter WoolfolkCommunications Strategies(615) 783-1627Email Information
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