“Red Hat Software, scheduled for its IPO this week, could be in
for a rough ride if the sour IPO market trend continues.”
“Goldman, Sachs & Co., Thomas Weisel Partners, and ETrade
Securities certainly are among those anxious to see what Monday’s
market will bring. All are underwriters for Red Hat, North
America’s leading distributor of Linux, an upstart open-source OS
that has gained acceptance in corporate boardrooms as well as
snagged server market share during the past year.”
“Analysts said Red Hat’s stock offering is one of the hottest
IPOs to watch this week because it’s leading the Linux charge. Some
analysts said the company eventually could become a veritable
competitor of Microsoft, but Red Hat’s IPO will be thefirst chance
investors have to express their level of interest in Linux, Ostman
said.”