Initial Public Offerings

Credit card goliath Visa Inc. said Monday that it planned to raise as much as $18.8 billion in what would be the largest initial public offering in U.S. history. The timing surprised analysts because the credit crunch and a possible recession could slow consumer spending and eat into the company's profit.

Shares of MRV Communications Inc., a Chatsworth-based maker of fiber optic equipment, rose the most in more than four years after its Source Photonics unit announced plans to raise as much as $130 million in an initial public offering. MRV advanced 44 cents, or 21%, to $2.50, the biggest gain since July 2003. The shares have fallen 29% this year. Source Photonics makes equipment that helps companies offer services such as streaming video and Internet calling.

NetSuite Inc., a software maker majority-owned by Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Larry Ellison, raised $161.2 million in an initial public offering after increasing the price of the stock three times. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company, whose programs handle accounting and other tasks over the Internet, sold 6.2 million shares for $26 each. The deal's managers can sell 930,000 more shares if there's enough demand.

The transformation of Discovery Communications Inc., once a sprawling and sleepy television operation, should rev up next year as it becomes a publicly traded company under a deal announced Thursday by cable mogul John Malone and Advance/Newhouse Communications. "This is the transaction that we have been expecting to occur," said Richard Greenfield, media analyst for Pali Research.

United Online Inc. on Wednesday shelved what would have been the first initial public offering for a social networking site. The Woodland Hills-based Internet company cited an unfavorable climate for IPOs in withdrawing its planned spinoff of Classmates Media Corp., whose Classmates.com website helps connect former friends from school, work and the military.

Third Wave Acquisition Corp., a so-called blank-check company headed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts founder Barry Sternlicht, filed with regulators Tuesday to raise as much as $350 million in an initial public offering. The Greenwich, Conn., company said in a registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would offer 35 million units at a price of $10 each.

Visa, the biggest U.S. credit card network, plans to raise $10 billion in an initial public offering. Visa said it would deposit a portion of the company's proceeds into an escrow account to pay settlements or judgments related to litigation. The offering is expected to be the biggest of the year. Visa is following in the footsteps of rival MasterCard, which has more than quadrupled in market value since it went public in May.

China's stock mania intensified Tuesday as Alibaba.com Ltd., operator of the country's largest online trading site for companies, almost tripled on its first day after an initial public offering in Hong Kong. The frenzy for the stock pushed the price to a level that made it four times more expensive than Google Inc. relative to earnings. The Alibaba offering followed the Shanghai debut of PetroChina Co. on Monday.

PetroChina Co. became the world's first company valued at more than a trillion dollars Monday, catapulting over U.S. energy titan Exxon Mobil Corp. as eager Chinese got their first shot at investing in the oil giant when its stock began trading on the Shanghai exchange. Shares of PetroChina nearly tripled as investors scrambled to get in on the offering. The stock opened at the equivalent of $2.24 and traded as high as $6.52 before closing at $5.90.

NetSuite Inc., a software maker controlled by Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison that has filed to go public, said Tuesday that Ellison had agreed to reduce his influence at the company. The move addresses concerns that shareholders who invest in the initial public offering would not have had much say in how the company is run, given Ellison's large stake in NetSuite.