Fans of home decorating and professional wrestling may not have much in common, but leaders of both fields saw their companies’ public offerings soar Tuesday. Shares of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia gained almost 100 percent on their $18 offering price to close at $35.56. Shares of the World Wrestling Federation jumped almost 50 percent on their $17 offering price to close at $25.25 Tuesday.
SOME 7.2 MILLION shares of Martha Stewart Living were priced late Monday at $18, at the top of the revised $16-to-$18 range announced earlier in the day. The shares initially had been expected to sell in a range of $13 to $15. Stewart and her company espouse a lifestyle of gracious living.
“For the last five months or so preparing our prospectus we certainly did come to the realization that we pioneered a new media category which is called lifestyle. No one else ever did it before and we did it, and we intend to really dominate this area with our company for a very long time to come,”
Stewart, the chairman and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia told CNBC Tuesday. Omnimedia’s reach includes a number of areas — a Web site, TV arm and publishing division. But central to the success of each of these groups is the 58-year-old CEO’s personal touch. In a worst case scenario, what happens to the company if Stewart is unable to maintain her highly visible public image?
“In 1990, when I started the company I had a vision of a media company with products and information centered around lifestyle, living and domestic arts. We have really made a very strong company out of this vision. And there are 400 employees at Martha Stewart Living with a similar vision and with similar dedication to very high quality… I really think that we are in excellent shape and if I ever do retire — and I don’t expect to in the near future — the company will thrive and grow and exist as just as if I were there,” she told CNBC.
WWF CEO Linda McMahon discussed her company's long-term strategy on CNBC.
Stewart’s role is pivotal said one IPO-watcher. “Once the smell of the new money coming into the company wears off, she will probably be the best person at turning that money into new opportunities and new revenue sources,” said David Menlow, president of IPO Financial Network.
The Martha Stewart Living offering is being managed by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Merrill Lynch & Co., Bear Stearns, Donaldson, Lufkin & enrette and Banc of America Securities LLC. In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in July, Martha Stewart Living said it planned to use proceeds from the offering to repurchase shares held by Time Publishing Centures Inc. and for business development.
RUMBLING STOCK PRICE
The World Wrestling Federation offered some 10 million shares in its Nasdaq debut Tuesday. Watching her company go public was akin to watching a professional wrestling match, Linda McMahon, CEO of the World Wrestling Federation, told CNBC Tuesday.
“Hopefully the result is the same. We have a lot of consumers out there who are buying our stock. They want to own a little piece of this American pop culture that we have,” she said.
The World Wrestling Federation produces and promotes wrestling matches for TV, pay-per-view, and live audiences.
In addition, it licenses characters for merchandise such as toys, sells videos and CDs and publishes WWF and RAW magazines. Underwriting for World Wrestling was led by Bear Stearns & Co.
