Buy.com Back In IPO Ring

The Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based e-tailer first went public during the dot-com boom but was taken private when the bubble burst. It now hopes to raise $86 million through an IPO, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday.

During its heyday, Buy.com drew much notoriety from solution providers for its low prices and its relationship with Ingram Micro. Solution providers felt Ingram Micro used Buy.com as a means to sell directly to end users at cheap prices. The Santa Ana, Calif., distributor claimed it had no stake in Buy.com, nor in its pricing, but both companies said Buy.com used Ingram Micro as its primary logistics and delivery engine. In addition, several Ingram Micro executives left to work for Buy.com, including Greg Hawkins, who became Buy.com's CEO for a short while.

Ingram Micro still handles about 66 percent of its orders, according to the SEC filing. Buy.com sells consumer electronics, computer hardware and software, cell phones, books, music, videos, games, digital music downloads, toys and sporting goods.

Buy.com was founded in 1997 and first went public in February 2000 at $13 a share. Its shares closed at $25.13 the first day and the company raised almost $195 million. It was taken private in November 2001 at a price of $24 million, or 17 cents a share, by founder Scott Blum. The company is still led by Blum, who is now chairman and CEO and owns about 98 percent of the company. Hawkins left the company in 2001.

In the SEC filing, Buy.com reported $291 million in revenue in 2004, compared with $238.2 million in 2003 and $301.7 million in 2002. The company also reported a loss of $15.4 million in 2004, or 12 cents per share, compared with a loss of $25.6 million loss in 2003, or 11 cents per share. In 2002, it reported a loss of $22.7 million loss, or 19 cents per share.

In fiscal 2000, Buy.com lost $133 million on sales of $787.7 million, compared with a loss of $130.2 million on $596.9 million in revenue in 1999.