IPO Report

The Financial Times reports that Prada is searching for a head of investor relations and that this could be a signal that the Italian fashion house is preparing again to list its shares in an IPO.

On Friday Prada reported that net profit soared 63% to 76 million Euros ($103 million) in the financial year ending on January 31, 2007.

Currently most of the privately held company is in the hands of Miuccia Prada, her husband and chief executive Patrizio Bertelli.

Underwriters for Ocean Power Technologies Inc. on Tuesday set the terms of the company's pending initial public offering at 5 million shares, with an estimated per-share price range of $20 to $22.    

The Pennington, N.J.-based company develops and is commercializing proprietary systems that generate electricity by harnessing the energy of ocean waves.

   

In mid-November, Ocean Power filed for an IPO of up to $100 million in common stock but didn't detail the terms of the offering.

   

The company intends to use net proceeds from the IPO to construct demonstration wave-power stations and to fund minority investments in wave station projects to encourage market adoption of stations, according to an amended filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

   

The company also plans to use net proceeds for the continued development of its PowerBuoy system, including increases in system output and expansion of its international sales and marketing capabilities.

   

UBS Investment Bank, Banc of America Securities LLC, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and First Albany Capital Inc. were listed as underwriters for the offering.

   

The underwriters may also purchase up to an additional 90,000 shares from the selling holders and up to 660,000 additional shares from the company to cover overallotments, Tuesday's SEC filing said.

   

Ocean Power said it plans to list its common stock on the Nasdaq, under the symbol OPTT.

Apollo Management LP is considering an initial public offering of its own as rival Blackstone Group LP seeks to raise $4 billion, according to Bloomberg News.                

Apollo has sought advice on the plan from banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc  Apollo has invested $16 billion in the past 17 years in companies ranging from casino operator Harrah's Entertainment Inc. to retailer Claire's Stores Inc.         

MetroPCS Communications Inc., a cell phone carrier, plans to raise as much as $1.05 billion in its initial public offering, making it the second-largest IPO so far this year.    

MetroPCS, which filed a preliminary prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in January, filled in additional details on Tuesday. The Dallas-based company plans to sell 50 million shares to the public at a per-share price range of $19 to $21.

   

In terms of size, the deal will rank behind New York private-equity firm Blackstone Group, which recently announced a $4 billion offering.

   

The timing of MetroPCS' IPO hasn't been established, but the release of an amended prospectus, including a price range and size of the offering, suggests it could occur in the next few weeks.

   

MetroPCS plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol PCS.