VoIP Vendor's IPO Underway After Delay

Shares of VoIP vendor ShoreTel Communications rose more than 36 percent Tuesday morning in its stock market debut after delaying its IPO pricing last week.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based vendor Monday raised $75 million, pricing its public offering of 7.9 million shares at $9.50 each. That was one dollar less than its postponed pricing last Wednesday. Underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.2 million shares, according to a company statement.

Pricing still fell within the anticipated range of $8.50 to $10.50.

Shares Tuesday opened at $10.00 and traded up $3.45 Tuesday morning at $36.32.

Shares of ShoreTel were expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "SHOR" last Thursday after the VoIP vendor priced its IPO at $10.50, but trading never began. The delay followed the filing of a patent infringement lawsuit by rival Mitel Networks against ShoreTel in a U.S. district court.

ShoreTel representatives did not respond to requests for comment on the suit last week.

Solution providers ahead of the IPO said they hope ShoreTel will use the influx of cash to fund more R&D, marketing and sales development.

The company in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said it plans to use the proceeds for working capital and potential technology acquisitions.

ShoreTel's move to go public comes as Avaya, one of its main rivals, is going private. Avaya, Basking Ridge, NJ, is in the midst of an $8.2 billion merger with investment firms Silver Lake and TPG Capital.