FTD IPO

February 8 is generally the cut-off date
for would-be Romeos to order their Valentine a dozen fresh red
roses, unless they want to make do with wilted carnations
instead, according to Red Herring's Web site.

It also happens to be when global flower delivery company
FTD Group Inc. goes public again, hoping Valentine's Day will
fuel its initial public offering in a week scheduled to be
packed with up to 16 IPOs worth more than $3.2 billion.

"This is Hollywood sometimes brought to the IPO market,"
said David Menlow, president of IPOfinancial.com. "It's staged,
it's choreographed, it's critical because you only have that
one chance to make a first impression on the marketplace."

Whether the timing makes a difference remains to be seen.

After an ebullient start to the year, the U.S. IPO market
stumbled in early February as several offerings were marked by
lower-than-expected pricings and delays.

Some IPO analysts say the slide in the Dow and Nasdaq may
finally have begun to weigh on sentiment toward new listings.

Others say a lackluster week was primarily due to the
preponderance of biopharmaceutical companies with plenty of
promise, but no developed products or revenue streams.

"The market is just not buying futures these days," said
Francis Gaskins, president of IPODesktop.com.

Whichever argument is favored, this coming week's heavy
stack of offerings will have to prove themselves in a market
where IPOs are being judged case-by-case, according to their
financials.

"Quality is job number one for IPO investors and especially
quality at a discount," said Tom Taulli, an IPO analyst at
research firm Current Offerings.

FTD, which links around 29,000 florists in 150 countries
and dates back to 1910, will kick off the week on Tuesday,
hoping to raise up to $195 million.

FTD is being brought to market by its main stockholder,
Green Equity Investors, which bought the company last year.

It will have to weather memories of an earlier 1999 listing
of FTD.com that failed to generate much interest and also
unease in some parts of the market over private equity deals,
where financial sponsors gobble up IPO proceeds or use the
funds to pay off debt accumulated in leveraged buyouts.

The company has already cut its proposed offering to 13.1
million shares from 15.4 million, but has stuck to its price
range of $12 to $14 a share.

Prestige Brands Holdings Inc., which sells over-the-counter
drug brands plus cleaning products, including Comet, also plans
to price on Tuesday, offering 23.33 million shares for $14 to
$16. IPO watchers say the listing has generated some buzz.

Rural telecoms provider Valor Communications Group Inc.'s
$570 million IPO is on Tuesday and family-held diversified
chemicals company Huntsman Corp. goes public on Thursday in an
offering that could raise $1.4 billion.

Both Valor and Huntsman could be affected by the
performance so far of similar listings, IPO watchers said.