Wit Capital, the investment bank that held the first IPO on the Internet, said Friday it plans an initial public offering of its own stock, sometime during the second quarter.
Terms of the offering weren't immediately available. Wit spokeswoman Susan Berkowitz declined to comment beyond the press release, and said the company had not yet filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wit Capital aims to give individual investors a fighting chance to get in on public stock offerings, a turf defended by old-guard institutional investors. Wit underwrites initial stock offerings, allows customers to trade online, and plans to open its own electronic stock exchange.
The company's origins are in beer -- it helped pioneer Net stock offerings with the Spring Street Brewing Company.
Last month, Wit hired away Johathan Cohen, a hotshot financial analyst, and George Lieberman, a high-profile Wall Street strategist, both formerly of Merrill Lynch. Lieberman is Wit's new chief information officer.
Wit also landed a US$25 million investment earlier this month from Capital Z Financial Services Fund II. Other investors in Wit include Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Mitsubishi.
Wit Capital "e-managed" the offering for online content provider EarthWeb, one of the most successful IPOs in history, and is underwriting upcoming offerings for the likes of software publisher Mpath.
Wit faces competition from ETrade, Charles Schwab, and Merrill Lynch, which last month bought an online trading software business to beef up its Web presence.
