Lotus Public Offering Gets Warm Welcome

The New York Times

October 7, 1983

The Lotus Development Corporation's initial public offering received a warm welcome yesterday.

The company, which makes a popular software package for use with the I.B.M. Personal Computer, offered 2,072,500 shares of common and certain shareholders an additional 527,500 at $18 a share. The stock closed yesterday in the over-the- counter market at 24 3/4 bid. Volume reached 1,268,300 shares, making Lotus the second-most-active issue of the day.

Traders said there was a heavy demand for the issue, which came out on a day that saw the Dow Jones industrial average climb 18.60 points.

The company, based in Cambridge, Mass., said proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes, including research and development and expansion of sales and marketing operations.

The company's major product, called 1-2-3, is designed for use with the I.B.M. Personal Computer and other 16-bit desktop personal computers. It combines spreadsheet, database and graphing capabilities into a single program. Lotus has been one of the leading sellers of software packages in computer retail stores this year.

Managing underwriters of the offering were L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin, and Robertson, Colman & Stephens.

Copyright 1983 The New York Times Company