UPDATE: Motricity Declines Post-IPO After Pricing Low

18th Jun 2010 21:11

(Adds closing stock price data.) By Lynn Cowan Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Mobile-phone data services provider Motricity Inc.'s (MOTR) stock closed out the week for U.S. IPOs on a negative note, declining on its first day of trading Friday. The company's initial public offering wraps up a week in which three of the five deals priced within their ranges, and three ended their first day of trading with gains. Motricity's stock closed at $9.26 on the Nasdaq, down 7.4% from its initial public offering price of $10. The company sold five million shares at the low end of a reduced price range of $10 to $11; it lowered that range from its original plans for $14 to $16. Based in Bellevue, Wash., Motricity provides mobile data services such as Internet access to wireless carrier companies' customers. It allows access to more than 30 million applications or third-party content through 2,000 different mobile-phone models. Although most of its operations are in the U.S., Motricity also serves customers in the U.K., the Netherlands, Indonesia and Singapore. Its customers include Verizon Wireless Inc., AT&T Inc. (T), Sprint Nextel Corp. (S), and Deutsche Telekom AG's (DT, DTE.XE) T-Mobile USA. Verizon wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Vodafone Group PLC (VOD). Motricity's revenue rose throughout the economic downturn, but higher expenses translated into operating losses, and the company has never been profitable. Motricity plans to use its IPO proceeds to fund investments and acquisitions. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) managed Motricity's offering. -By Lynn Cowan, Dow Jones Newswires; 301-270-0323; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 18, 2010 16:11 ET (20:11 GMT)