CNet News.com: Google IPO Trading Imminent. The search giant has asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to declare the registration of its IPO shares effective on Tuesday at 4 p.m. EDT, according to a notice posted on the company’s public-offering site.
I’ve added Eric Schmidt’s Employment Agreement to the collection of Google contracts.
CNET News.com: ‘Faltering’ Market Downs MatchNet. Online dating company MatchNet on Thursday withdrew its plans to sell its shares to the public, joining a growing number of Internet companies that have canceled or postponed a stock market launch.
MatchNet’s CEO and president Todd Tappin also announced his resignation. I’ve posted his employment contract as well as other MatchNet contracts on the web site. If you are vaguely curious about online dating sites, take a look at the exhibits at the end of the Asset Purchase Agreements with Point Match. These include demographic figures for their registered members.
CNET also mentioned that PlanetOut withdrew their IPO. PlanetOut contracts include some employment agreements and leases.
Electronic News: Apple iPod SOC Provider Prepares for IPO. On the success and proliferation of digital media content, increasing Internet-based content distribution, greater storage capacity and increasing functionality of devices, Apple iPod SOC provider PortalPlayer is preparing to file for its initial public offering.
PortalPlayer contracts include plenty of employment agreement, a few leases and some service agreements with LSI Logic and eSilicon. SoC means system-on-chip, for those who are wondering.
San Jose Mercury: Nanosys Pulls IPO. Nanosys, a Palo Alto start-up widely viewed as a leader in the emerging field of nanotechnology, withdrew its plans for an initial public offering Wednesday, citing “adverse market conditions.”
Adverse market conditions? Sure, the market isn’t peaking, but I don’t hear Google pulling its IPO. Maybe the market is adverse to companies that post losses of $8.78 million on $2.5 million of revenue. I’ve posted Nanosys contracts on the web site. I found a lot of licensing agreements and development agreements.
Forbes: Forget ATX Group ATX Group of Irving, Tex., provides what it calls “telematics services” to the auto industry. In plain English, that’s two-way voice and data service, including voice-activated emergency response, between a subscriber’s car and the company’s centers via satellite link.
In plainer English, think OnStar, which is owned by GM. Forbes also noted that “ATX Group is a solid company in a growing sector, but a risky IPO.” Apparently, the company agreed and withdrew its IPO, citing “adverse market conditions.” I’ve posted ATX contracts with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, as well as some employment agreements.
MLive.com: IPOs Struggle in Poor Showing for New Issues Demand for IPOs, already weak this year, took a turn for the worse Thursday. Three of five companies to price initial public offerings Thursday — including the $1 billion deal for phone book company Dex Media Inc. — priced well below expectations, while the other two priced at the bottom of estimates.
With so many IPOs, everyone is bound to find some contract to pique their interest. For the Fahrenheit 9/11 crowd, management consulting agreements between Dex Media and The Carlyle Group should satisfy them. Dex Media also filed those ever-popular employment agreements.
For outsourcers, Kanbay provided consulting agreements with Household International and Morgan Stanley.
Finally, for the tech crowd, Blackbaud filed a Software Transition Agreement between it and the United Way of America.
BusinessWeek: DreamWorks’ IPO, Disney’s Nightmare. The hits just keep on coming for Michael Eisner — and not necessarily the good kind. The Disney (DIS) chief executive, under fire for apparently driving away Steve Jobs’s Pixar Animation (PIXR ) unit, now has to watch his one-time studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg take dead aim at Disney’s animation stronghold.
DreamWorks Animation Inc. filed its IPO yesterday. Unfortunately, no material contracts were included in its filing. There will be some interesting agreements that will be filed later by amendment though, including employment/consulting agreements with Katzenberg, Geffen and Spielberg. Stay tuned.
Centre Daily Times: Poker is entertaining, but don’t bet on it making it into the Olympics. The Discovery Channel, quite an appropriate name, discovered it could take poker to a new level. It’s World Poker Tour, with compelling commentary from Vince Van Patten and Sexton, has become one of the top-rated shows on cable.
Interestingly, WPT Enterprises filed for an IPO. So, World Poker Tour contracts are now available, including its contract with the Travel Channel. If you are interesting in the gaming industry, see The Donald’s employment agreement with Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts as well as various Indian gaming contracts with Lakes Entertainment.
Seattle PI: Microsoft agrees to pay Lindows Inc. to settle suit over Windows. Microsoft Corp. resolved one of its more troublesome legal challenges Monday, agreeing to pay $20 million to Lindows Inc., a small company led by an outspoken entrepreneur who wanted to invalidate the valuable Windows trademark.
View Lindows contracts from its IPO filing, including the Confidential Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release of Claims between Microsoft and Lindows, as well as various employment, licensing and distribution agreements.