Digital Domain IPO deal now 'day to day'

Digital Domain Inc., the Hollywood special-effects studio that had planned its initial public stock offering for this week, looks like it’s having trouble closing the deal -- at least at the price it wants.

The firm’s underwriter, San Francisco investment bank Thomas Weisel Partners, says this morning that pricing of the deal is "day to day." That usually means the underwriter still is trying to drum up enough investor interest to get the offering done.

Digital had hoped to sell 6 million shares at $12 to $14 apiece. But the company has been losing money since 2005, and some investors apparently aren’t sure of the payoff from the firm’s plan to develop its own feature films and to push into video-game development and production. More on the deal here and here.

Digital could cut the price of the deal if it wants to sell itself cheap. Another option would be to go the private-equity route to raise capital.

Posted April 24, 2008