S-1/A 1 ds1a.htm AMENDMENT NO. 6 TO FORM S-1 Amendment No. 6 to Form S-1
Table of Contents

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 16, 2004.

Registration No. 333-117278

 


UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


 

AMENDMENT NO. 6

TO

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 


 

ARBINET-THEXCHANGE, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 


 

Delaware   7389   13-3930916

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

120 Albany Street, Tower II, Suite 450

New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901

(732) 509-9100

(Address Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)

 


 

J. Curt Hockemeier

President and Chief Executive Officer

Arbinet-thexchange, Inc.

120 Albany Street, Tower II, Suite 450

New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901

(Name, Address Including Zip Code and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)

 


 

Copies to:

 

David J. Sorin, Esq.   Abigail Arms, Esq.
Andrew P. Gilbert, Esq.   Shearman & Sterling LLP
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP   801 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 900
502 Carnegie Center   Washington, D.C. 20004
Princeton, New Jersey 08540   (202) 508-8000
(609) 919-6600    

 


 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:    As soon as practicable after the effective date hereof.

 

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act, check the following box.    ¨                    

 

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.    ¨                     

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.    ¨                     

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.    ¨                     

 

If delivery of the Prospectus is expected to be made pursuant to Rule 434, please check the following box.    ¨                     

 


 

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 



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The information contained in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We and the selling stockholders may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

Subject to Completion

Preliminary Prospectus dated December 16, 2004

 

PROSPECTUS


 

6,535,405 Shares

 

LOGO

 

Arbinet-thexchange, Inc.

 

Common Stock

 


 

This is Arbinet-thexchange, Inc.’s initial public offering. Arbinet-thexchange, Inc. is offering 4,233,849 shares and the selling stockholders identified in this prospectus are offering an additional 2,301,556 shares.

 

We expect the initial public offering price to be between $14 and $16 per share. Currently, no public market exists for the shares. After pricing of the offering, we expect that the shares will be quoted on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol “ARBX.”

 

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. See “ Risk Factors” beginning on page 10.

 


 

     Per Share

     Total

Public offering price

   $        $  

Underwriting discount

   $        $  

Proceeds, before expenses, to Arbinet

   $        $  

Proceeds, before expenses, to the selling stockholders

   $        $  

 

 

The underwriters may also purchase up to an additional 980,310 shares of common stock from the selling stockholders, at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount, within 30 days from the date of this prospectus to cover any overallotments.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved these securities or determined if this prospectus is accurate or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

The shares will be ready for delivery on or about                         , 2004

 


 

Merrill Lynch & Co.   Lehman Brothers

 

SG Cowen & Co.

William Blair & Company

Advanced Equities, Inc.

 


 

The date of this prospectus is                         , 2004.


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LOGO

 

LOGO


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

     Page

Summary

   1

Risk Factors

   10

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

   25

Use of Proceeds

   26

Dividend Policy

   26

Capitalization

   27

Dilution

   29

Selected Consolidated Financial and Operating Data

   30

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

   32

Business

   47

Management

   65

Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions

   80

Principal and Selling Stockholders

   84

Description of Capital Stock

   91

Shares Eligible for Future Sale

   95

Material U.S. Federal Tax Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders of Our Common Stock

   98

Underwriting

   101

Legal Matters

   105

Experts

   105

Where You Can Find More Information

   106

Index to Financial Statements and Schedule

   F-1

 


 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized any other person to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospectus may have changed since that date.

 

For investors outside the United States: Neither we nor any of the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. You are required to inform yourselves about and to observe any restrictions relating to this offering and the distribution of this prospectus.


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SUMMARY

 

This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus that we believe is most important to understanding how our business is currently being conducted. You should read the entire prospectus carefully, including the “Risk Factors” section and the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this prospectus, before making an investment decision.

 

Overview

 

We are the leading electronic market for trading, routing and settling communications capacity. Members of our exchange, consisting primarily of communications services providers, anonymously buy and sell voice calls and Internet capacity through our centralized, efficient and liquid marketplace. Communications services providers that do not use our exchange generally individually negotiate and buy access to the networks of other communications services providers to send voice calls and Internet capacity outside of their network. We believe that we provide a cost-effective and efficient alternative to these direct connections. With a single interconnection to our exchange, members have access to all other members’ networks. Members place orders through our easy-to-use web-based interface. Sellers on the exchange post sell orders to send voice calls and Internet capacity for specific destinations, or routes, at various prices. We independently assess the quality of these routes and include that information in the sell order. Buyers enter buy orders based on route quality and price and are matched to sell orders by our fully automated trading platform and our proprietary software. When a buyer’s order is matched to a seller’s order, the voice calls or Internet capacity are then routed through our state-of-the-art facilities. We invoice and process payments for our members’ transactions and manage the credit risk of buyers primarily through our credit management programs with third parties.

 

Through our exchange, members have access to communications capacity in every country in the world. Our exchange has achieved increased liquidity, as we have continued to add new members and experience growth in the number of minutes of wireline and wireless voice calls traded on our exchange through both traditional communications networks and voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, facilities. As of September 30, 2004, we had 343 members who subscribed to our voice trading services, including eight of the world’s ten largest communications services providers. The following table illustrates the growth and changing mix of the minutes traded on our exchange for voice calls:

 

     Minutes
(billion)


   % Increase
relative to prior
comparable
period (1)


    Wireline/Wireless Mix

    Traditional Networks/VoIP

 
          Wireline

    Wireless

    Traditional

    VoIP

 

2003 Full Year

   8.0    60 %   63 %   37 %   89 %   11 %

2004 First Nine Months

   7.5    29 %   61 %   39 %   84 %   16 %

(1)   2003 full year compared to 2002 full year and 2004 first nine months compared to 2003 first nine months.

 

In July 2004, we launched products and services that allow the trading of Internet capacity through our exchange. As of September 30, 2004, we had 25 members who subscribed to our Internet data trading services. In September 2004, we acquired the Internet protocol trading exchange business of Band-X Limited, or Band-X, with operations located in New York, London, and Edinburgh, Scotland for $4.0 million in cash, subject to certain working capital adjustments. As part of our acquisition, 195 former Band-X customers became our customers and nine former Band-X suppliers became our suppliers. We are in the process of establishing direct contractual relationships with these customers and suppliers. We believe many of such customers and suppliers will become members of our exchange. We believe the acquisition will accelerate the growth of our exchange for Internet capacity.

 

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For the year ended December 31, 2003, we reported fee revenues of $34.0 million, net loss of approximately five thousand dollars and earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, of $8.8 million. For the nine months ended September 30, 2004, we reported fee revenues of $32.2 million, net income of $1.9 million and EBITDA of $10.6 million. By comparison, for the nine months ended September 30, 2003, we reported fee revenues of $25.0 million, a net loss of $1.3 million and EBITDA of $5.8 million. For information regarding our calculation of and the reasons why management uses EBITDA, we refer you to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Our operations and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative costs are predominantly fixed in nature. We have grown, and believe we will be able to continue to grow, fee revenues significantly faster than these operating costs and expenses. For example, these costs and expenses increased approximately 10% from $25.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2003 to $27.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2004, and our fee revenue grew approximately 29% over the same period.

 

Industry Overview

 

The global communications services industry continues to evolve, providing significant opportunities and creating competitive pressures for market participants. The industry has been experiencing significant changes, including the proliferation of wireless and data products and services, increased voice and data volume, declining unit pricing and the emergence of new participants due to deregulation and low-cost technologies. The growth in competition and associated fragmentation along with declining unit pricing and an industry structure that is characterized by high fixed costs have resulted in increased pressure on communications services providers’ profitability. Most communications services providers must access other providers’ networks to send and receive voice and data traffic. The process of establishing, managing and maintaining these interconnections is labor-intensive, costly, time-consuming and highly negotiated, which leads to higher installation, network management, selling, legal, billing and collection costs, creating the need and demand for a centralized and efficient marketplace.

 

Our Solution

 

We have created a global market where our members, through a single interconnection to our facilities, trade, route and settle voice calls and Internet capacity. Our exchange is neutral, favoring neither buyer nor seller, and allows our members to trade anonymously. Our system incorporates the following processes and attributes:

 

Trade

 

On our exchange, members can buy communications capacity to every country in the world. Our members place orders based on quality and price criteria, through our easy-to-use, web-based trading platform. We independently monitor and update the route quality rating of our sellers. We provide our members with market quality, price and volume information that helps them trade effectively on our exchange.

 

Route

 

Our proprietary software and patented processes automatically match and prioritize the orders based on the quality and price parameters that our members place on our exchange. Traffic is automatically routed from the buyer to the seller based on this order prioritization.

 

Settle

 

We manage all of the clearing, settlement and credit risk management for our members. Our members receive a single invoice from us that reflects the net amount due to or from us. We also manage the credit risk of

 

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transactions executed on our exchange through third-party financing arrangements, prepayment programs, cash deposits and letters of credit. This enables us to pay our sellers regardless of whether we have collected payment from the buyers.

 

The Benefits of our Solution to our Exchange Members

 

Our exchange provides many benefits to our members. By trading, routing and settling voice calls and Internet capacity through our exchange, members can access multiple buyers and sellers, increase network utilization, achieve better pricing and improve profitability and cash flow by reducing the number of interconnections, reducing selling, legal, billing and collection expenses and eliminating disputes and bad debt.

 

  Ÿ   Benefits of a single interconnection.    By establishing a single interconnection to one of our five exchange delivery points, or EDPs, and executing a standard membership agreement with us, communications services providers gain immediate targeted access to and a link with several hundred buyers and sellers. This replaces the lengthy, costly and highly negotiated process of searching for and interconnecting to other communications services providers on a one-to-one basis and managing each interconnection on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, by aggregating traffic through a single interconnection to our exchange, we believe that our members can improve their network utilization by increasing the traffic they buy and sell through their existing infrastructure.

 

  Ÿ   Benefits of our trading platform and automatic routing.    We believe our buyers are able to lower their costs at their specified quality criteria for voice calls and Internet capacity because buyers have access to quality and price data of numerous sellers. We eliminate the need for buyers to independently assess the quality of each seller’s network by providing a centralized and up-to-date source of quality rating of sellers’ routes, enabling buyers to make quality comparisons between sellers’ routes.

 

  Ÿ   Benefits of our settlement and credit risk management features.    Our settlement procedures are standardized and centralized. We handle all invoicing for voice calls and Internet capacity sold on our exchange. Members receive a single payment or invoice from us reflecting net buying or selling activity on our exchange. This settlement reduces members’ administrative costs and improves their working capital. We eliminate bad debt exposure for sellers because we assume the credit risk of every transaction executed on our exchange. We pay our sellers regardless of whether we have collected payment from the buyers. We manage our credit risk through the netting of our members’ buying and selling activity, third-party financing arrangements, prepayment programs, cash deposits and letters of credit. We believe our standard settlement terms accelerate the payment and improve cash flow for our sellers.

 

Our Strategy

 

Our mission is to provide the trading platform where virtually any digital good can be traded. The key elements of our strategy are:

 

Expand our voice business through the following initiatives:

 

  Ÿ   Increase participation on our exchange from existing members.    We believe our members benefit from economies of scale as they send more voice calls through our exchange allowing them to further reduce their expenses and reallocate resources. By demonstrating the cost savings of our exchange to senior management of our members, we believe members will increase their participation on our exchange.

 

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  Ÿ   Increase membership on our exchange.    We intend to continue to add members to our exchange in order to increase liquidity and volume. We are focusing our sales and marketing efforts on incumbent national carriers, regional Bell operating companies and competitive communications services providers in deregulated markets in the United States, Western Europe, Asia and Latin America. Additionally, we are focusing our sales efforts on communications services providers that we believe are best positioned to add market share as minutes shift to wireless and VoIP, including European and Asian wireless communications services providers, cable companies and VoIP service providers. As our membership increases, we expect the network effect of our exchange to attract even more buyers and sellers, which will further increase liquidity.

 

  Ÿ   Expand our global presence.    We currently have EDPs in New York, Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt and Hong Kong. We plan to expand our presence in the high-growth markets of Asia and Latin America.

 

  Ÿ   Develop, market and expand complementary services.    We plan to develop, market and expand services that are complementary to our existing offerings, including enhanced trading, credit and clearing services and switch partitioning.

 

Leverage our trading platform, intellectual property and operations support systems to offer a trading platform for other digital goods.    We believe that we can leverage our web-based trading platform, intellectual property portfolio and operations support systems to allow for the trading, routing and settlement of other digital goods and offer additional services. In July 2004, we launched an automated full service web-based trading platform for Internet capacity. Internet capacity can be bought or sold on our exchange in a manner similar to our voice offerings. Members are able to enter orders with quality and price specifications. We deliver the capacity over our proprietary platform and handle all billing and settlement functions. We currently have 25 members on our exchange for Internet capacity. In September 2004, we acquired the Internet protocol trading exchange business of Band-X Limited, with operations located in New York, London and Edinburgh, Scotland for $4.0 million in cash, subject to certain working capital adjustments. As part of our acquisition, 195 former Band-X customers became our customers and nine former Band-X suppliers became our suppliers. We are in the process of establishing direct contractual relationships with these customers and suppliers. We believe many of such customers and suppliers will become members of our exchange.

 

Certain Risks

 

We have incurred significant losses since our inception in November 1996. At September 30, 2004, our accumulated deficit was approximately $105.1 million. Although we achieved net income of $1.9 million in the first nine months of 2004, we expect to incur significant future expenses, particularly with respect to the development of new products and services, deployment of additional infrastructure and expansion in strategic global markets. To remain profitable, we must continue to increase the usage of our exchange by our members and attract new members in order to improve the liquidity of our exchange. We must also deliver superior service to our members, mitigate the credit risks of our business and develop and commercialize new products and services. We may not succeed in these activities and may never generate revenues that are significant or large enough to sustain profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. See “Risk Factors” and the other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock.

 

Corporate Information

 

We were incorporated in Delaware in November 1996 as SmartGroup Holdings, Inc. In July 2002, we changed our name to Arbinet-thexchange, Inc. Our principal executive offices are located at 120 Albany Street, Tower II, Suite 450, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901. Our telephone number is (732) 509-9100. Our website

 

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address is www.arbinet.com. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and should not be considered to be a part of this prospectus. We have included our website address as an inactive textual reference only.

 


 

Unless otherwise stated, all references to “us,” “our,” “Arbinet,” “we,” the “Company” and similar designations refer to Arbinet-thexchange, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Arbinet® and Arbinet-thexchange® are registered trademarks of Arbinet-thexchange, Inc. ThexchangeSM, voice on thexchangeSM, OptimizedVoiceSM, SelectVoiceSM, PrimeVoiceSM, data on thexchangeSM, OptimizedIPSM, SelectIPSM, PrimeIPSM, SwitchAxcessSM, RapidClearSM, BilateralAxcessSM, AxcessCodeSM, AxcessRateSM and CreditWatchSM are service marks of Arbinet-thexchange, Inc. Our logo, trademarks and service marks are the property of Arbinet. Other trademarks or service marks appearing in this prospectus are the property of their respective holders.

 

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THE OFFERING

 

Common stock offered:

    

By Arbinet

  

4,233,849 shares

By the selling stockholders

  

2,301,556 shares

Total

  

6,535,405 shares

Common stock to be outstanding after this offering

  

24,180,196 shares

Use of proceeds

  

We estimate that we will receive net proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock in this offering of $57.0 million, assuming an initial public offering price of $15 per share, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We intend to use the net proceeds to:

 

Ÿ redeem all outstanding shares of our series B preferred stock and series B-1 preferred stock for approximately $15.2 million;

 

Ÿ repay approximately $3.7 million in outstanding principal and $0.4 million in outstanding interest on various outstanding equipment leases and promissory notes with interest rates that vary between 9.5% and 15.4% per annum and maturity dates ranging from June 2005 to April 2008; and

 

Ÿ fund sales and marketing activities, working capital, capital expenditures for additional EDPs in our voice and data businesses and other general corporate purposes. We currently cannot estimate the portion of the net proceeds which will be used for each of these purposes.

 

We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders. See “Use of Proceeds.”

Risk factors

   See “Risk Factors” and the other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock.

Proposed Nasdaq National Market symbol

  

ARBX

 

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The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering is based on the number of shares outstanding as of October 31, 2004. The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering gives effect to the issuance prior to completion of this offering of 284,654 shares of common stock upon the exercise of outstanding warrants by certain selling stockholders assuming an initial public offering price of $15 per share but does not take into account:

 

  Ÿ   1,555,223 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options as of October 31, 2004 at a weighted average exercise price of $1.12 per share;

 

  Ÿ   an aggregate of 1,300,000 shares of common stock that will be reserved for future issuance under our 2004 stock incentive plan as of the closing of this offering;

 

  Ÿ   shares of our capital stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding warrants as of October 31, 2004 which shall be exercisable for an aggregate of 208,029 shares of common stock upon completion of the offering with a weighted average exercise price of $3.04 per share; and

 

  Ÿ   an aggregate of 156,250 shares of common stock to be issued in connection with the settlement of the dispute with Marmon and certain other common stockholders in November 2004.

 


 

Unless otherwise noted, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters do not exercise their overallotment option granted by the selling stockholders, and has been adjusted to reflect the 1-for-16 reverse stock split of our common stock that will be effected prior to the completion of this offering, the automatic conversion of our outstanding shares of series A-1 preferred stock, series C preferred stock, series C-1 preferred stock, series D preferred stock, series D-1 preferred stock, series E preferred stock and series E-1 preferred stock into an aggregate of 16,991,134 shares of common stock upon the completion of this offering, the filing of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the adoption of our amended and restated by-laws upon the completion of this offering. All of the outstanding shares of series B preferred stock and series B-1 preferred stock will be redeemed upon completion of this offering.

 

We have been informed that Bedrock Capital Partners I, L.P., Communications Ventures III, L.P. and Communications Ventures III CEO & Entrepreneurs’ Fund, L.P., holders of our series B preferred stock, may seek to purchase shares of our common stock in this offering upon redemption by us of their shares of preferred stock.

 

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SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OPERATING DATA

 

The following tables present summary consolidated financial information, which has been derived from our consolidated financial statements. You should read this information in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” all included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

     Year Ended December 31,

    Nine Months Ended
September 30,


    Three Months Ended
September 30,


 
     2001

    2002

    2003

    2003

    2004

    2003

    2004

 
     (in thousands, except per share data)  

Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:

                                                        

Fee revenues

   $ 10,189     $ 23,389     $ 33,959     $ 25,042     $ 32,198     $ 8,822     $ 11,530  
    


 


 


 


 


 


 


Costs and expenses:

                                                        

Operations and development

     14,034       11,851       10,882       8,149       9,542       2,835       3,524  

Sales and marketing

     5,445       4,223       4,713       3,590       3,937       1,013       1,170  

General and administrative

     9,250       11,340       9,588       7,509       6,618       2,394       2,176  

Depreciation and amortization

     8,150       9,558       7,204       5,835       6,717       2,102       2,438  

Restructuring costs, asset impairments and litigation settlement

     5,584       19,464       —         —         850       —         850  
    


 


 


 


 


 


 


Total costs and expenses

   $ 42,463     $ 56,436     $ 32,386     $ 25,083     $ 27,664     $ 8,345     $ 10,158  
    


 


 


 


 


 


 


Income (loss) from operations

   $ (32,222 )   $ (33,006 )   $ 1,590     $ (24 )   $ 4,567     $ 477     $ 1,372  
    


 


 


 


 


 


 


Net income (loss)

   $ (33,833 )   $ (34,284 )   $ (5 )   $ (1,336 )   $ 1,871     $ 23     $ 417  
    


 


 


 


 


 


 


Net loss attributable to common stockholders

   $ (38,886 )   $ (41,655 )   $ (8,010 )   $ (7,442 )   $ (3,307 )   $ (2,194 )   $ (1,374 )
    


 


 


 


 


 


 


Net loss per common share:

                                                        

Basic and Diluted

   $ (26.07 )   $ (23.28 )   $ (3.87 )   $ (3.66 )   $ (1.32 )   $ (1.09 )   $ (0.52 )

Other Data:

                                                        

EBITDA (1)

   $ (25,823 )   $ (24,030 )   $ 8,825     $ 5,836     $ 10,575     $ 2,578     $ 3,486  
    


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

     As of September 30, 2004

     Actual

    Proforma
As Adjusted(2)


     (in thousands)

Balance Sheet Data:

              

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 10,041     $ 51,878

Working capital

     10,872       52,706

Total assets

     70,092       111,929

Loans payable and capital lease obligations

     16,262       16,262

Redeemable preferred stock

     22,095       —  

Redeemable convertible preferred stock

     88,142       —  

Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)

     (89,392 )     62,682

 

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(1)   EBITDA is defined as net income before (i) depreciation and amortization, (ii) interest income and expense and (iii) income taxes. Management believes that the presentation of EBITDA included in this prospectus provides useful information to investors regarding our results of operations because it assists in analyzing and benchmarking the performance and value of our business. Although we use EBITDA as a financial measure to assess the performance of our business, the use of EBITDA is limited because it does not include certain material costs, such as depreciation, amortization and interest, necessary to operate our business. EBITDA included in this prospectus should be considered in addition to and not as a substitute for, net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP as a measure of performance.

 

A reconciliation of EBITDA to net income (loss) follows:

 

     Year Ended December 31,

   

Nine Months

Ended September 30,


    Three Months
Ended September 30,


 
     2001

    2002

    2003

    2003

    2004

    2003

    2004

 
     (in thousands)  

Net income (loss)

   $ (33,833 )   $ (34,284 )   $ (5 )   $ (1,336 )   $ 1,871     $ 23     $ 417  

Depreciation and amortization

     8,150       9,558       7,204       5,835       6,717       2,102       2,438  

Interest income

     (937 )     (545 )     (342 )     (265 )     (195 )     (83 )     (56 )

Interest expense

     797       1,241       1,968       1,602       2,182       536       687  
    


 


 


 


 


 


 


EBITDA

   $ (25,823 )   $ (24,030 )   $ 8,825     $ 5,836     $ 10,575     $ 2,578     $ 3,486  
    


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

(2)   The proforma as adjusted financial information gives effect to (a) the issuance and sale of 4,233,849 shares of common stock upon completion of this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $15 per share, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, (b) the redemption of all outstanding shares of series B preferred stock and series B-1 preferred stock for approximately $15.2 million upon the closing of this offering, and (c) the conversion of all of our series A-1, C, C-1, D, D-1, E and E-1 preferred stock into an aggregate of 16,991,134 shares of common stock upon the closing of this offering.

 

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RISK FACTORS

 

This offering involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below and the other information in this prospectus, including the consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus, before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock. If any of the following risks or uncertainties actually occur, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results would likely suffer, possibly materially. In that event, the market price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

 

Risks Relating to Our Business

 

We have a limited operating history as a company and as an exchange for communications services providers. If we are unable to overcome the difficulties frequently encountered by early stage companies, our business could be materially harmed.

 

We began our operations in November 1996. In October 1999, we discontinued some of our previous operations, which involved the sale and rental of telecommunication equipment and operating international routes, and modified our business strategy to focus exclusively on our Internet-based exchange for long-distance voice calls. In the second quarter of 2004, we introduced our exchange-based system for buying and selling Internet capacity.

 

We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, risks and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in an early stage of commercial development in new and rapidly evolving markets. In order to overcome these risks and difficulties, we must, among other things:

 

  Ÿ   generate sufficient usage of our exchange by our members;

 

  Ÿ   maintain and attract a sufficient number of members to our exchange to achieve and sustain profitability;

 

  Ÿ   execute our business strategy successfully, including successful execution of our Internet capacity business;

 

  Ÿ   manage our expanding operations; and

 

  Ÿ   upgrade our technology, systems and network infrastructure to accommodate increased traffic and transaction volume and to implement new features and functions.

 

Our failure to overcome these risks and difficulties and the risks and difficulties frequently encountered by early stage companies could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business or continue our operations.

 

We have incurred a cumulative loss since inception and if we do not maintain or generate significant revenues, we may not remain profitable.

 

We have incurred significant losses since our inception in November 1996. At September 30, 2004, our accumulated deficit was approximately $105.1 million. Although we achieved net income of $1.9 million in the first nine months of 2004, we expect to incur significant future expenses, particularly with respect to the development of new products and services, deployment of additional infrastructure and expansion in strategic global markets. To remain profitable, we must continue to increase the usage of our exchange by our members and attract new members in order to improve the liquidity of our exchange. We must also deliver superior service to our members, mitigate the credit risks of our business and develop and commercialize new products and services. We may not succeed in these activities and may never generate revenues that are significant or large enough to sustain profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. A large portion of our fee revenues is derived from fees that we charge our members on a per-minute and per-megabyte basis. Therefore, a general market decline in the price for voice calls and Internet capacity may adversely affect the fees we charge our members in order to keep or increase the volume of member business and could materially impact our future revenues and profits.

 

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Our failure to remain profitable would depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to expand our business, diversify our product and service offerings or continue our operations.

 

Our members may not trade on our exchange or utilize our other services due to, among other things, the lack of a liquid market, which may materially harm our business. Volatility in trading volumes may have a significant adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

 

Traditionally, communications services providers buy and sell network capacity in a direct, one-to-one process. Our members may not trade on our exchange unless it provides them with an active and liquid market. Liquidity depends upon the number of buyers and sellers that actively trade on a particular communications route. Our ability to increase the number of buyers that actively trade on our exchange will depend on, among other things, the willingness and ability of prospective sellers to satisfy the quality criteria imposed by prospective buyers, and upon the increased participation of competing sellers from which a buyer can choose in order to obtain favorable pricing, achieve cost savings and consistently gain access to the required quality services. Our ability to increase the number of sellers that actively trade on our exchange will depend upon the extent to which there are sufficient numbers of buyers available to increase the likelihood that sellers will generate meaningful sales revenues. Alternatively, our members may not trade on our exchange if they are not able to realize significant cost savings. This may also result in a decline in trading volume and liquidity of our exchange. Declines in the trading volume on our exchange will result in lower revenues to us and would adversely affect our profitability because of our predominantly fixed cost structure. Volatility in trading volumes may have a significant adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

 

Our members may not trade on our exchange, because such members may conclude that our exchange will replace their existing business at lower margins.

 

If our exchange continues to be an active, liquid market in which lower-priced alternatives are available to buyers, sellers may conclude that further development of our exchange will erode their profits and they may stop offering communications capacity on our exchange. Since our exchange provides full disclosure of prices offered by participating sellers, on an anonymous basis, buyers may choose to purchase network capacity through our exchange instead of sending traffic to their existing suppliers at pre-determined, and often higher, contract prices. If suppliers of communications capacity fear or determine that the price disclosure and spot market limit order mechanisms provided by our exchange will “cannibalize” the greater profit-generating potential of their existing business, they may choose to withdraw from our exchange, which ultimately could cause our exchange to fail and materially harm our business.

 

Our member enrollment cycle can be long and uncertain and may not result in revenues.

 

Our member enrollment cycle can be long, and may take up to 12 months or even longer from our initial contact with a communications services provider until that provider signs our membership agreement. Because we offer a new method of purchasing and selling long-distance voice calls and Internet capacity, we must invest a substantial amount of time and resources to educate services providers regarding the benefits of our exchange. Factors that contribute to the length and uncertainty of our member enrollment cycle and that may reduce the likelihood that a member will purchase or sell communications traffic through our exchange include:

 

  Ÿ   the strength of pre-existing one-to-one relationships that prospective members may already have with their communications services providers;

 

  Ÿ   existing incentive structures within our members’ organizations that do not reward decision-makers for savings achieved through cost-cutting;

 

  Ÿ   the experience of the trial trading process by prospective members; and

 

  Ÿ   any aversion to new methods for buying and selling communications capacity.

 

If we fail to enroll new members, we may not increase our revenues which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

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Until recently, our operations have been cash flow negative and we have depended on equity financings and credit facilities to meet our cash requirements, which may not be available to us in the future on favorable terms, if at all. We may require substantial additional funds to execute our business plan and, if additional capital is not available, we may need to limit, scale back or cease our operations.

 

Until the year ended December 31, 2002, we experienced negative operating cash flow and have depended upon equity financings, as well as borrowings under our credit facilities, to meet our cash requirements in each quarterly and annual period since we began our operations in November 1996. We expect to meet our cash requirements for the next 12 months through a combination of cash flow from operations, existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, borrowings under our credit facilities and net proceeds from this offering. If our cash requirements vary materially from those currently planned, or if we fail to generate sufficient cash flow from our business, we may require additional financing sooner than anticipated.

 

Our current credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank expires in May 2006. We may default under this facility or may not be able to renew this credit facility upon expiration or on acceptable terms. In addition, we may seek additional funding in the future and intend to do so through public or private equity and debt financings. We also could be required to seek funds through arrangements with collaborators or others that may require us to relinquish rights to some of our technologies, product or service candidates or products or services which we would otherwise pursue on our own. Additional funds may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we are unable to obtain funding on a timely basis, we may not be able to execute our business plan. As a result, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected and we may be required to significantly curtail or cease our operations.

 

Our settlement procedures subject us to financial risk on all receivables not accepted by GMAC or Highbridge under our credit arrangements or covered by our other methods of managing our credit risk. In addition, we may elect to forego potential revenues to avoid certain credit risks.

 

Under our settlement procedures, we pay a seller on our exchange the net sales price, or the total amount sold by a member less the amount purchased by that member in a given period, for its trading activity. We may not, however, collect the net sales price from the buyers on our exchange until after we have paid the sellers. We have established credit risk assessment and credit underwriting services with each of GMAC and SCM Telco Finance, or SCM Telco, that provide us with a level of credit risk protection. In August 2004, SCM Telco assigned our credit agreement to Highbridge/Zwirn Special Opportunity Fund, LP, or Highbridge, who assumed all of SCM Telco’s obligations under the credit agreement. We are subject to financial risk for any nonpayment by our buyers for receivables that GMAC and/or Highbridge do not accept. We seek to mitigate that risk by evaluating the creditworthiness of each buyer prior to its joining our exchange, as well as requiring either deposits, letters of credit or prepayments from our buyers. We also manage our credit risk by reducing the amount owed to us by our buying members by netting the buy amount and the sell amount for each member on our exchange. In the third quarter of 2004, approximately 98% of our trading revenues were covered by GMAC and Highbridge credit lines, netting, prepayments or other cash collateral, of which 46% were covered by GMAC and Highbridge credit lines. However, our credit evaluations cannot fully determine whether buyers can or will pay us for capacity they purchase through our exchange. In the future, we may elect to increase the amount of credit we extend to our customers we deem creditworthy in order to reduce our credit underwriting costs. If buyers fail to pay us for any reason and we have not been able or have elected not to secure credit risk protection with respect to these buyers, our business could be adversely affected. In the event that the creditworthiness of our buyers deteriorates, our credit providers and we may elect not to extend credit and consequently we may forego potential revenues that could materially affect our results of operations.

 

We may not be able to find a replacement for GMAC or Highbridge which could materially harm our business.

 

We currently rely on GMAC and Highbridge to bear a significant portion of the credit risk exposure to us with respect to transactions executed on our exchange. Our credit risk agreement with GMAC expires in February 2005. Although we have an alternative arrangement with Highbridge to provide supplemental credit

 

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risk protection, if we cannot renew our contract with GMAC at the end of its term, if GMAC terminates the contract upon an event of default or if we are unable to identify a suitable alternative credit risk provider on acceptable terms, we may be unable to mitigate the credit risk associated with our business. Our agreement with Highbridge expires on December 12, 2005. Additionally, the agreement is terminable upon 60 days’ notice, with a $250,000 termination fee, if the agreement is cancelled by us in the first year. In the third quarter of 2004, approximately 46% of our trading revenues were covered by GMAC and Highbridge credit lines. The failure to find a replacement for either GMAC or Highbridge on terms acceptable to us, if at all, could subject us to significant losses and materially harm our business.

 

We are exposed to the credit risk of our members not covered by our credit management programs with third parties which could result in material losses to us.

 

There have been adverse changes in the public and private equity and debt markets for communications services providers that have affected their ability to obtain financing or to fund capital expenditures. In some cases, the significant debt burden carried by certain communications services providers has adversely affected their ability to pay their outstanding balances with us and some of our members have filed for bankruptcy as a result of their debt burdens, making us an unsecured creditor of the bankrupt entity. Although these members may emerge from bankruptcy proceedings in the future, a bankruptcy proceeding can be a slow and cumbersome process and creditors often receive partial or no payment toward outstanding obligations. Furthermore, because we are an international business, we may be subject to the bankruptcy laws of other nations which may provide us limited or no relief. Even if these members should emerge from bankruptcy proceedings, the extent and timing of any future trading activity is uncertain.

 

In addition, because we generally pay the sellers on our exchange and then seek payment from the buyers on our exchange, a bankruptcy court may require us to return the funds received from a buyer if we, and not our sellers, are deemed to have received a preferential payment prior to bankruptcy. Although we have credit risk programs in place to monitor and mitigate the associated risks, including our arrangements with GMAC and Highbridge and our policy of netting a member’s buy and sell transactions on our exchange, we do not always utilize these programs for certain members and, in such instances, these programs are not effective in eliminating or reducing these credit risks to us.

 

We have experienced losses due to the failure of some of our members to meet their obligations and then subsequently seeking protection of applicable bankruptcy laws. Although these losses have not been significant to date, future losses, if incurred, could be significant and could harm our business and have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

 

If we are not able to retain our current senior management team or attract and retain qualified technical and business personnel, our business will suffer.

 

We are dependent on the members of our senior management team, in particular, J. Curt Hockemeier, our President and Chief Executive Officer, for our business success. Our employment agreements with Mr. Hockemeier and our other executive officers are terminable on short notice or no notice. We do not carry key man life insurance on the lives of any of our key personnel. The loss of any of our executive officers would result in a significant loss in the knowledge and experience that we, as an organization, possess and could significantly affect our current and future growth. In addition, our growth will require us to hire a significant number of qualified technical and administrative personnel. There is intense competition from numerous communications services companies for human resources, including management, in the technical fields in which we operate, and we may not be able to attract and retain qualified personnel necessary for the successful operation and growth of our exchange. The loss of the services of key personnel or the inability to attract new employees when needed could severely harm our business.

 

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The market for our services is competitive and if we are unable to compete effectively, our financial results will suffer.

 

We face competition for our voice trading services from communications services providers’ existing and established legacy processes and new companies that may be able to create centralized trading solutions that replicate our voice trading platform or circumvent our intellectual property. These companies may be more effective in attracting voice traffic than our exchange.

 

We face competition for our data trading services from Internet service providers and Internet capacity resellers. In addition, software-based, Internet infrastructure companies focused on Internet protocol route control products may compete with us for business. Furthermore, Internet network service providers may make technological advancements, such as the introduction of improved routing protocols to enhance the quality of their services, which could negatively impact the demand for our data services.

 

Some of our current and potential competitors may have greater financial resources than we do and may have the ability to adopt aggressive pricing policies. In addition, many of these companies have longer operating histories and may have significantly greater technical, marketing and other resources than we do and may be able to better attract the same potential customers that we are targeting. Once customers have established business relationships, it could be extremely difficult to convince them to utilize our exchange or replace or limit their existing ways of conducting business.

 

We expect competition to intensify in the future, and we may not have the financial resources, technical expertise, sales and marketing abilities or support capabilities to compete successfully. Our competitors may be able to develop services or processes that are superior to our services or processes or that achieve greater industry acceptance or that may be perceived by buyers and sellers as superior to ours.

 

Future governmental regulations may adversely affect our business.

 

The communications services industry is highly regulated in the United States and in foreign countries. Our business may become subject to various United States, United Kingdom and other foreign laws, regulations, agency actions and court decisions. The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, has jurisdiction over interstate and international communications in the United States. The FCC currently does not regulate the services we offer. If, however, the FCC determined, on its own motion or in response to a third party’s filing, that it should regulate our services and that certain of our services or arrangements require us to obtain regulatory authorizations, the FCC could order us to make payments into certain funds supported by regulatory entities, require us to comply with reporting and other ongoing regulatory requirements and/or fine us. We are currently not regulated at the state level, but could be subjected to regulation by individual states as to services that they deem to be within their jurisdiction.

 

In addition, like many businesses that use the Internet to conduct business, we operate in an environment of tremendous uncertainty as to potential government regulation. We believe that we are not currently subject to direct regulation of the services that we offer other than regulations generally applicable to all businesses. However, governmental agencies have not yet been able to adapt all existing regulations to the Internet environment. Laws and regulations may be introduced and court decisions reached that affect the Internet or other web-based services, covering issues such as member pricing, member privacy, freedom of expression, access charges, content and quality of products and services, advertising, intellectual property rights and information security. In addition, because we offer our services internationally, foreign jurisdictions may claim that we are subject to their regulations. Any future regulation may have a negative impact on our business by restricting our method of operation or imposing additional costs. Further, as a company that conducts a portion of our business over the Internet, it is unclear in which jurisdictions we are actually conducting business. Our failure to qualify to do business in a jurisdiction that requires us to do so could subject us to fines or penalties, and could result in our inability to enforce contracts in that jurisdiction.

 

Any of these government actions could have a material adverse effect on our business.

 

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Expanding and maintaining international operations will subject us to additional risks and uncertainties.

 

We expect to continue the expansion of our international operations, which will subject us to additional risks and uncertainties. Although we have established EDPs in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt and Hong Kong, we intend to expand our presence in the markets of Asia and Latin America. Foreign operations are subject to a variety of additional risks that could have an adverse effect on our business, including:

 

  Ÿ   difficulties in collecting accounts receivable and longer collection periods;

 

  Ÿ   changing and conflicting regulatory requirements;

 

  Ÿ   potentially adverse tax consequences;

 

  Ÿ   tariffs and general export restrictions;

 

  Ÿ   difficulties in integrating, staffing and managing foreign operations;

 

  Ÿ   political instability;

 

  Ÿ   seasonal reductions in business activity during the summer months in Europe and certain other parts of the world;

 

  Ÿ   the impact of local economic conditions and practices;

 

  Ÿ   potential non-enforceability of our intellectual property and proprietary rights in foreign countries; and

 

  Ÿ   fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

 

Our inability to manage these risks effectively could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

 

If we are unable to establish new EDPs, or do not adequately control expenses associated with the establishment of new EDPs, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

 

As part of our expansion strategy, we intend to establish new EDPs, particularly in new geographic markets. We will face various risks associated with identifying, obtaining and integrating attractive EDP sites, cost estimation errors or overruns, interconnection delays, material delays or shortages, our inability to obtain necessary permits on a timely basis, if at all, and other factors, many of which are beyond our control and all of which could delay the establishment of any new EDP. We may not be able to establish and operate new EDPs on a timely or profitable basis. Establishment of new EDPs will increase our operating expenses, including expenses associated with hiring, training, retaining and managing new employees, purchasing new equipment, implementing new systems and incurring additional depreciation expense. If we are unable to control our costs as we establish additional EDPs and expand in geographically dispersed locations, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

 

The future market for web-based trading of Internet capacity, and therefore the revenues of our data business, cannot be predicted with certainty.

 

We face the risk that the market for web-based trading of Internet capacity might develop more slowly or differently than we currently anticipate, if at all. In addition, if the Internet becomes subject to a form of central management, or if Internet network service providers establish an economic settlement arrangement regarding the exchange of traffic between Internet networks, the demand for web-based trading of Internet capacity could be adversely affected.

 

Even if the market for web-based trading of Internet capacity develops, our data service offerings may not achieve widespread acceptance. We may be unable to successfully and cost-effectively market and sell the

 

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services we offer to a sufficiently large number of members. In addition, a number of communications services providers and Internet service providers have been offering or expanding their network services, and the ability of these providers to bundle other services and products with their network services could place us at a competitive disadvantage. The failure of a significant market for web-based trading of Internet capacity to develop or the inability to increase membership in our data business could materially affect our revenues and, consequently, the results of our operations.

 

Acquisitions, including our acquisition of the Internet protocol trading exchange business of Band-X, present many risks, and we may not realize the anticipated financial and strategic goals of any of our acquisitions.

 

We may in the future acquire complementary companies, products and technologies. Such acquisitions, including the Band-X acquisition, involve a number of risks, which may include the following:

 

  Ÿ   we may find that the acquired company or assets do not further our business strategy, or that we overpaid for the company or assets, or that economic conditions have changed, all of which may result in a future impairment charge;

 

  Ÿ   we may have difficulty integrating the operations and personnel of the acquired business and may have difficulty retaining the customers and/or the key personnel of the acquired business;

 

  Ÿ   we may have difficulty incorporating and integrating acquired technologies into our business;

 

  Ÿ   we may face patent infringement risks associated with the sale of the acquired company’s products;

 

  Ÿ   our ongoing business and management’s attention may be disrupted or diverted by transition or integration issues and the complexity of managing diverse locations;

 

  Ÿ   we may have difficulty maintaining uniform standards, controls, procedures and policies across locations;

 

  Ÿ   an acquisition may subject us to additional telecommunications regulations;

 

  Ÿ   an acquisition may result in litigation from terminated employees of the acquired business or third parties; and

 

  Ÿ   we may experience significant problems or liabilities associated with technology and legal contingencies of the acquired business.

 

These factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or cash flows, particularly in the case of a larger acquisition or multiple acquisitions in a short period of time. From time to time, we may enter into negotiations for acquisitions that are not ultimately consummated. Such negotiations could result in significant diversion of management time from our business as well as significant out-of-pocket costs.

 

In September 2004, we acquired the Internet protocol trading exchange business of Band-X Limited. In connection with the acquisition of the IP trading exchange business of Band-X, Band-X assigned or otherwise transferred to us the contracts of all 196 of its customers and its nine suppliers of Internet capacity. We believe many of such customers and suppliers will become members of our exchange. If we fail to successfully integrate this business or fail to obtain or retain the Band-X customers or suppliers, we may not achieve the intended benefits of this acquisition, including any increase in our revenues and profitability.

 

The consideration that we pay in connection with an acquisition could affect our financial results. If we were to proceed with one or more significant acquisitions in which the consideration included cash, we could be required to use a substantial portion of our available cash, including the proceeds of this offering, to consummate such acquisitions. To the extent we issue shares of stock or other rights to purchase stock, including options or

 

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other rights, our existing stockholders may experience dilution in their share ownership in our company and their earnings per share may decrease. In addition, acquisitions may result in the incurrence of debt, large one-time write-offs (such as of acquired in-process research and development costs) and restructuring charges. They may also result in goodwill and other intangible assets that are subject to impairment tests, which could result in future impairment charges. Any of these factors may materially and adversely affect our business and operations.

 

Risks Relating to Our Technology

 

System failures, human error and security breaches could cause us to lose members and expose us to liability.

 

The communications services providers that use our exchange depend on us to accurately track, rate, store and report the traffic and trades that are conducted over our exchange. Software defects, system failures, natural disasters, human error and other factors could lead to inaccurate or lost information or the inability to access our exchange. From time to time, we have experienced temporary service interruptions. These interruptions may occur in the future. Our systems could be vulnerable to computer viruses, physical and electronic break-ins and third party security breaches. In a few instances, we manually input trading data, such as bid and ask prices, at the request of our members, which could give rise to human error and miscommunication of trading information and may result in disputes with our members. Any loss of information or the delivery of inaccurate information due to human error, miscommunication or otherwise or a breach or failure of our security mechanisms that leads to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information could lead to member dissatisfaction and possible claims against us for damages. Our failure to maintain the continuous availability of our exchange for trading, to consistently deliver accurate information to members of our exchange or to maintain the security of their confidential information could expose us to liability and materially harm our business.

 

Undetected defects in our technology could adversely affect our operations.

 

Our technology is complex and is susceptible to errors, defects or performance problems, commonly called “bugs.” Although we regularly test our software and systems extensively, we cannot ensure that our testing will detect every potential error, defect or performance problem.

 

Any such error, defect or performance problem could have an adverse effect on our operations. Members and potential members of our exchange may be particularly sensitive to any defects, errors or performance problems in our systems because a failure of our systems to accurately monitor transactions could adversely affect their own operations.

 

If we do not adequately maintain our members’ confidential information, we could be subject to legal liability and our reputation could be harmed.

 

Any breach of security relating to our members’ confidential information could result in legal liability to us and a reduction in use of our exchange or cancellation of our services, either of which could materially harm our business. Our personnel often receive highly confidential information from buyers and sellers that is stored in our files and on our systems. Similarly, we receive sensitive pricing information that has historically been maintained as a matter of confidence within buyer and seller organizations.

 

We currently have practices, policies and procedures in place to ensure the confidentiality of our members’ information. However, our practices, policies and procedures to protect against the risk of inadvertent disclosure or unintentional breaches of security might fail to adequately protect information that we are obligated to keep confidential. We may not be successful in adopting more effective systems for maintaining confidential information, so our exposure to the risk of disclosure of the confidential information of our members may grow as we expand our business and increase the amount of information that we possess. If we fail to adequately maintain our members’ confidential information, some of our members could end their business relationships with us and we could be subject to legal liability.

 

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We may not be able to keep pace with rapid technological changes in the communications services industry.

 

The communications services industry is subject to constant and rapid technological changes. We cannot predict the effect of technological changes on our business. In addition, widely accepted standards have not yet been developed for the technologies that we employ. New services and technologies may be superior to our services and technologies, or may render our services and technologies obsolete.

 

To be successful, we must adapt to and keep pace with rapidly changing technologies by continually improving, expanding and developing new services and technologies to meet customer needs. Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to respond to technological advances, meet the evolving needs of members and prospective members and conform to emerging industry standards on a cost-effective and timely basis, if implemented. We will need to spend significant amounts of capital to enhance and expand our services to keep pace with changing technologies. Failure to do so may materially harm our business.

 

Any failure of our physical infrastructure could lead to significant costs and disruptions that could reduce our revenue and harm our business reputation and financial results.

 

Our business depends on providing members with highly reliable service. We must protect our infrastructure and the equipment of our members located in our EDPs. Our EDPs and the services we provide are subject to failure resulting from numerous factors, including:

 

  Ÿ   human error;

 

  Ÿ   physical or electronic security breaches;

 

  Ÿ   fire, earthquake, flood and other natural disasters;

 

  Ÿ   water damage;

 

  Ÿ   power loss; and

 

  Ÿ   terrorism, sabotage and vandalism.

 

Problems at one or more of our EDPs, whether or not within our control, could result in service interruptions or significant equipment damage. Any loss of services, equipment damage or inability to terminate voice calls or supply Internet capacity could reduce the confidence of our members and could consequently impair our ability to obtain and retain members, which would adversely affect both our ability to generate revenues and our operating results.

 

Our business could be harmed by prolonged electrical power outages or shortages, increased costs of energy or general availability of electrical resources.

 

Our EDPs are susceptible to regional costs of power, electrical power shortages, planned or unplanned power outages caused by these shortages, such as those that occurred in California during 2001 and in the Northeast in 2003, and limitations, especially internationally, of adequate power resources. The overall power shortage in California has increased the cost of energy, which costs we may not be able to pass on to our members. We attempt to limit exposure to system downtime by housing our equipment in data centers, and using backup generators and power supplies. Power outages, which last beyond our backup and alternative power arrangements, could harm our members and our business.

 

The inability to expand our systems may limit our growth.

 

We seek to generate a high volume of traffic and transactions on our exchange. The satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of our processing systems and network infrastructure are critical to our reputation and our ability to attract and retain members. Our revenues depend primarily on the number and the volume of member transactions that are successfully completed. We need to expand and upgrade our technology,

 

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systems and network infrastructure both to meet increased traffic and to implement new features and functions. We may be unable to project accurately the rate or timing of increases, if any, in the use of our services or to expand and upgrade our systems and infrastructure to accommodate any increases in a timely fashion.

 

We use internally developed systems to process transactions executed on our exchange, including billing and collections processing. We must continually improve these systems in order to accommodate the level of use of our exchange. In addition, we may add new features and functionality to our services that may result in the need to develop or license additional technologies. Our inability to add additional software and hardware or to upgrade our technology, transaction processing systems or network infrastructure to accommodate increased traffic or transaction volume could have adverse consequences. These consequences include unanticipated system disruptions, slower response times, degradation in levels of member support, impaired quality of the members’ experiences of our service and delays in reporting accurate financial information. Our failure to provide new features or functionality also could result in these consequences. We may be unable to effectively upgrade and expand our systems in a timely manner or to integrate smoothly any newly developed or purchased technologies with our existing systems. These difficulties could harm or limit our ability to expand our business.

 

Our business is dependent on the development and maintenance of the Internet infrastructure.

 

The success of our exchange will depend largely on the development and maintenance of the Internet infrastructure. This includes maintenance of a reliable network backbone with the necessary speed, data capacity and security, as well as timely development of complementary products, for providing reliable Internet access and services. The Internet has experienced, and is likely to continue to experience, significant growth in the numbers of users and amount of traffic. If the Internet continues to experience increased numbers of users, increased frequency of use or increased bandwidth requirements, the Internet infrastructure may be unable to support the demands placed on it. In addition, the performance of the Internet may be harmed by an increased number of users or bandwidth requirements or by “viruses,” “worms” and similar programs. The Internet has experienced a variety of outages and other delays as a result of damage to portions of its infrastructure, and it could face outages and delays in the future. These outages and delays could reduce the level of Internet usage as well as the level of traffic and the processing of transactions on our exchange.

 

Risks Relating to Patents and Proprietary Information

 

If we are not able to obtain and enforce patent protection for our methods and technologies, our ability to successfully operate our exchange and commercialize our product and service candidates will be harmed and we may not be able to operate our business profitably.

 

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to protect proprietary methods and technologies that we develop under the patent and other intellectual property laws of the United States and other countries, so that we can prevent others from using our inventions and proprietary information. However, we may not hold proprietary rights to some of our current or future methods and technologies. Because patent applications in the United States and many foreign jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all, and because publications of discoveries in industry-related literature lag behind actual discoveries, we cannot be certain that we were the first to make the inventions claimed in issued patents or pending patent applications, or that we were the first to file for protection of the inventions set forth in our patent applications. As a result, we may be required to obtain licenses under third-party patents. If licenses are not available to us on acceptable terms, or at all, we will not be able to operate our exchange or commercialize our product and services candidates.

 

Our strategy depends in part on our ability to rapidly identify and seek patent protection for our discoveries. This process is expensive and time consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may be able to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. The issuance of a patent does not guarantee that it is valid or enforceable, so even if we obtain patents, they may not be valid or enforceable against third parties. In addition, the issuance of a patent does not

 

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guarantee that we have the right to practice the patented invention. Third parties may have blocking patents that could be used to prevent us from marketing our own patented product and practicing our own patented technology.

 

Our pending patent applications may not result in issued patents. The patent position of technology-oriented companies, including ours, is generally uncertain and involves complex legal and factual considerations. The standards which the United States Patent and Trademark Office and its foreign counterparts use to grant patents are not always applied predictably or uniformly and can change. The laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary information to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and many companies have encountered significant problems and costs in protecting their proprietary information in these foreign countries. Accordingly, we do not know the degree of future protection for our proprietary rights or the breadth of claims allowed in any patents issued to us or to others. The allowance of broader claims may increase the incidence and cost of patent interference proceedings and/or opposition proceedings and the risk of such claims being invalidated by infringement litigation. On the other hand, the allowance of narrower claims may limit the value of our proprietary rights. Our issued patents may not contain claims sufficiently broad to protect us against third parties with similar technologies or products, or provide us with any competitive advantage. Moreover, once they have been issued, our patents and any patent for which we have licensed or may license rights may be challenged, narrowed, invalidated or circumvented. If our patents are invalidated or otherwise limited, other companies will be better able to develop products that compete with ours, which could adversely affect our competitive business position, business prospects and financial condition.

 

We also rely on trade secrets, know-how and technology, which are not protected by patents, to maintain our competitive position. If any trade secret, know-how or other technology not protected by a patent were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our business and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

 

Others may allege that we are infringing their intellectual property, forcing us to expend substantial resources in resulting litigation, the outcome of which would be uncertain. Any unfavorable outcome of such litigation could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.

 

If any parties successfully claim that our creation, offer for sale, sale, import or use of technologies infringes upon their intellectual property rights, we might be forced to incur expenses to litigate the claims, pay damages, potentially including treble damages, if we are found to have willfully infringed such parties’ patents or copyrights. In addition, if we are unsuccessful in litigation, a court could issue a permanent injunction preventing us from operating our exchange or commercializing our product and service candidates for the life of the patent that we have been deemed to have infringed. Litigation concerning patents and other forms of intellectual property and proprietary technologies, is becoming more widespread and can be protracted and expensive, and can distract management and other key personnel from performing their duties for us. For example, Nortel Networks Inc. and Nortel Networks Limited, or collectively Nortel, filed a complaint against us on April 12, 2004, alleging that we have infringed copyrights held by Nortel, misappropriated Nortel trade secrets and breached certain contractual obligations related to our purchase of hardware, services and licensed software from Nortel.

 

Any legal action against us claiming damages and seeking to enjoin commercial activities relating to the affected methods, processes, products and services could, in addition to subjecting us to potential liability for damages, require us to obtain a license in order to continue to operate our exchange or market the affected product and service candidates. Any license required under any patent may not be made available on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. In addition, some licenses may be nonexclusive, and therefore, our competitors may have access to the same technology licensed to us. If we fail to obtain a required license or are unable to design around a patent, we may be unable to effectively operate our exchange or market some of our technology and products, which could limit our ability to generate revenues or achieve profitability and possibly prevent us from generating revenue sufficient to sustain our operations.

 

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If we become involved in patent litigation or other proceedings to enforce our patent rights, we could incur substantial costs, substantial liability for damages and be required to cease operation of our exchange or our product and services commercialization efforts.

 

We may need to resort to litigation to enforce a patent issued to us or to determine the scope and validity of third-party proprietary rights. The cost to us of any litigation or other proceeding relating to intellectual property rights, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial, and the litigation could divert our management’s efforts. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could limit our ability to continue our operations, including the commercialization of our products and services.

 

Confidentiality agreements with employees and others may not adequately prevent disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information.

 

In order to protect our proprietary technology, processes and methods, we also rely in part on confidentiality agreements with our corporate partners, employees, consultants, advisors and others. These agreements may not effectively prevent disclosure of confidential information and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. In addition, others may independently discover trade secrets and proprietary information, and in such cases we could not assert any trade secret rights against such party. Costly and time consuming litigation could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights, and failure to obtain or maintain trade secret protection could adversely affect our competitive business position.

 

Risks Relating to This Offering

 

We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from this offering and may not use them effectively.

 

We cannot specify with certainty all of the particular uses of the net proceeds that we will receive from this offering. Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds, including for any of the purposes described in the “Use of Proceeds” section of this prospectus. Our stockholders may not agree with the manner in which our management chooses to allocate and spend the net proceeds. The failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value.

 

If you purchase our common stock in this offering, you will incur immediate and substantial dilution in the book value of your shares.

 

The assumed initial public offering price is substantially higher than the net tangible book value per share of our common stock. Investors purchasing common stock in this offering will pay a price per share that substantially exceeds the book value of our tangible assets after subtracting our liabilities. As a result, investors purchasing common stock in this offering will incur immediate dilution of $12.64 per share, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $15 per share. Further, investors purchasing common stock in this offering will contribute approximately 35% of the total amount invested by stockholders since our inception, but will own only approximately 17% of the shares of common stock outstanding.

 

This dilution primarily is due to our investors who purchased shares prior to this offering having paid at the time of their purchase substantially less than the price offered to the public in this offering. In addition, as of September 30, 2004, options to purchase 1,565,711 shares of common stock at a weighted average exercise price per share of $1.12 were outstanding and warrants to purchase shares of our capital stock which shall be

 

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exercisable for an aggregate of 241,383 shares of our common stock upon completion of the offering, with a weighted average exercise price per share of $3.04 were outstanding. The exercise of any of these options or warrants would result in additional dilution. As a result of this dilution, investors purchasing stock in this offering may receive significantly less for their shares than the purchase price paid in this offering in the event of a liquidation.

 

Our stock price is likely to be volatile, and the market price of our common stock after this offering may drop below the price you pay.

 

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. Although we have applied to have our common stock approved for quotation on the Nasdaq National Market, an active trading market for our shares may never develop or be sustained following this offering. The initial public offering price for our common stock will be determined through negotiations with the underwriters. This initial public offering price may vary from the market price of our common stock after the offering. You may not be able to sell any shares of common stock that you purchase at or above the initial public offering price.

 

The market prices for securities of Internet marketplaces, electronic exchanges, transaction processing companies and companies whose business is heavily dependent on communications services have been particularly volatile. Some of the factors that may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate include:

 

  Ÿ   failure of our data offerings to achieve commercial success;

 

  Ÿ   passage of various laws and governmental regulations governing Internet-related services and communications-related services;

 

  Ÿ   failure of or disruption to our physical infrastructure or services;

 

  Ÿ   conditions or trends in the Internet, technology and communications industries;

 

  Ÿ   the addition or departure of any key employees;

 

  Ÿ   changes in estimates of our financial results or recommendations by securities analysts;

 

  Ÿ   litigation involving our company, including the litigation filed by Octane Capital Fund L.L.P. and Amerindo Technology Growth Fund II Inc. on December 10, 2004, or our general industry or both;

 

  Ÿ   investors’ general perception of our company, our exchange, the economy and general market conditions;

 

  Ÿ   developments or disputes concerning our patents or other proprietary rights; and

 

  Ÿ   significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments by us or our competitors.

 

If any of these factors causes an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition, the price of our common stock could fall.

 

Insiders will continue to have substantial control over Arbinet after this offering and could delay or prevent a change in corporate control.

 

After this offering, our directors, executive officers and principal stockholders, together with their affiliates, will beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately 47.4% of our outstanding common stock, or 46.5% if the underwriters exercise their overallotment option in full. As a result, these stockholders, if acting together, may have the ability to determine or influence the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election and removal of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our

 

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assets. In addition, these persons, acting together, may have the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership may harm the market price of our common stock by:

 

  Ÿ   delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company;

 

  Ÿ   preventing changes in our management or board of directors;

 

  Ÿ   impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving our company; or

 

  Ÿ   discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.

 

We will incur increased costs as a result of being a public company.

 

As a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. We will incur costs associated with our public company reporting requirements. We also anticipate that we will incur costs associated with recently adopted corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as new rules implemented by the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Nasdaq Stock Market. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly. We also expect these new rules and regulations may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these new rules, and we cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs.

 

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make acquiring us, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

 

Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and our by-laws that will become effective upon the completion of this offering may delay or prevent an acquisition of us or a change in our management. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. Because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions could in turn affect any attempt by our stockholders to replace current members of our management team. These provisions include:

 

  Ÿ   a classified board of directors;

 

  Ÿ   a prohibition on actions by our stockholders by written consent;

 

  Ÿ   the ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval, which could be used to institute a “poison pill” that would work to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer, effectively preventing acquisitions that have not been approved by our board of directors; and

 

  Ÿ   limitations on the removal of directors.

 

In addition, our certificate of incorporation and our by-laws that will become effective upon the completion of this offering provide that directors may be removed only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of the holders of 75% or more of our shares of capital stock present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote. Under our certificate of incorporation and by-laws, any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors, may be filled only by vote of a majority of our directors then in office. The classification of our board of directors and the limitations on the ability of our stockholders to remove directors and fill vacancies could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or discourage a third party from seeking to acquire control of, our company.

 

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Moreover, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prohibits a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner. Finally, these provisions establish advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon at stockholder meetings. These provisions would apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some stockholders.

 

If there are substantial sales of our common stock, our stock price could decline.

 

If our stockholders sell large numbers of shares of our common stock or the public market perceives that stockholders might sell shares of common stock, the market price of our common stock could decline significantly. All of the shares being sold in this offering will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the U.S. federal securities laws, unless purchased by our “affiliates” as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act.

 

After this offering, we will have outstanding 24,180,196 shares of common stock, based on the number of shares outstanding as of October 31, 2004. This includes an aggregate of 6,535,405 shares that we and the selling stockholders are selling in this offering, which may be resold in the public market immediately, and excludes any issuances of common stock after October 31, 2004. The remaining 17,644,791 shares, or 72.9% of our outstanding shares after this offering, are currently restricted as a result of the application of securities laws or by virtue of lock-up agreements entered into with the underwriters in connection with this offering, but will be able to be sold in the near future as set forth below.

 

Number of Shares and % of Total Outstanding


  

Date Available for Sale Into Public Market


783,433 shares, or 4.4%

   Upon the completion of this offering.

1,064,977 shares, or 6.0%

   Beginning 90 days after the completion of this offering, depending on the requirements of the federal securities laws.

15,751,307 shares, or 89.3%

   Beginning 180 days after the date of this prospectus due to lock-up agreements between the holders of these shares and the underwriters. However, Merrill Lynch can waive the provisions of these lock-up agreements and allow these stockholders to sell their shares at any time.

45,074 shares, or 0.3%

   Between 180 and 365 days after the date of this prospectus, depending on the applicable requirements of the federal securities laws.

 

Upon completion of this offering, subject to certain conditions, holders of an aggregate of          approximately 15,750,999 shares of common stock will have rights with respect to the registration of these shares of common stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If we register their shares of common stock following the expiration of their lock-up agreements entered into with the underwriters, they can sell these shares in the public market.

 

Promptly following completion of this offering, we intend to register approximately 2,855,223 shares of common stock that are authorized for issuance under our stock plans, including 1,555,223 outstanding stock options as of October 31, 2004. Once we register the shares authorized for issuance under our stock plans, they can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to the lock-up agreements referred to above and the restrictions imposed on our affiliates under Rule 144 under the Securities Act.

 

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

 

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this prospectus regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. We have included important factors in the cautionary statements included in this prospectus, particularly in the “Risk Factors” section, that we believe could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that we make. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments we may make. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

 

We estimate that our net proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock in this offering will be approximately $57.0 million, assuming an initial public offering price of $15 per share and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock by the selling stockholders. If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option, we will not receive any additional proceeds. We intend to use the net proceeds to:

 

  Ÿ   redeem all outstanding shares of our series B preferred stock and series B-1 preferred stock for approximately $15.2 million;

 

  Ÿ   repay approximately $3.7 million in outstanding principal and $0.4 million in outstanding interest on various outstanding equipment leases and promissory notes with interest rates that vary between 9.5% and 15.4% per annum and maturity dates ranging from June 2005 to April 2008; and

 

  Ÿ   fund sales and marketing activities, working capital, capital expenditures for additional EDPs in our voice and data businesses and other general corporate purposes. We currently cannot estimate the portion of the net proceeds which will be used for each of these purposes.

 

In addition, we may also use a portion of the proceeds for the acquisition of, or investment in, companies, technologies, products or assets that complement our business. However, we have no present understandings, commitments or agreements to enter into any potential acquisitions or investments.

 

The amounts and timing of our actual expenditures will depend upon numerous factors, including the increased usage of our exchange, the growth in the number of members of our exchange, the timing of our establishment of additional EDPs in various locations around the world, the dates on which we further upgrade our systems and expand the products and services available to members of our exchange, our capital costs, developments in domestic and foreign government regulation of the communications services industry, the amount of proceeds actually raised in this offering, the amount of cash generated by our operations and the extent of competition we face. As a result, our management will have broad discretion to allocate the net proceeds from this offering. Pending utilization of the net proceeds as described above, we intend to invest the net proceeds of the offering in short-term investment grade and U.S. government securities.

 

DIVIDEND POLICY

 

We have never paid or declared any cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business and we do not expect to pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Payment of future dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, restrictions contained in current or future financing instruments and other factors our board of directors deems relevant.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

 

The following table sets forth our capitalization as of September 30, 2004:

 

  Ÿ   on an actual basis; and

 

  Ÿ   on a pro forma as adjusted basis to reflect (a) the issuance and sale of 4,233,849 shares of common stock upon completion of this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $15 per share, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, (b) the redemption of all outstanding shares of series B preferred stock and series B-1 preferred stock for approximately $15.2 million upon the closing of this offering (c) the conversion of all of our series A-1, C, C-1, D, D-1, E and E-1 preferred stock into an aggregate of 16,991,134 shares of common stock upon the closing of this offering and (d) the issuance prior to completion of this offering of 284,654 shares of common stock upon the exercise of outstanding warrants by certain selling stockholders assuming an initial public offering price of $15 per share.

 

You should read this table together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus and the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” section of this prospectus.

 

     As of September 30, 2004

     Actual

   Pro forma
As Adjusted


     (in thousands, except share
and per share data)

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 10,041    $ 51,878
    

  

Loans payable and capital lease obligations

   $ 16,262    $ 16,262

Series B cumulative redeemable senior preferred stock, $.001 par value; 38,000,000 shares authorized, 9,910,016 shares outstanding actual and 0 shares outstanding pro forma as adjusted

     18,277      —  

Series B-1 cumulative redeemable senior preferred stock, $.001 par value; 8,000,000 shares authorized, 2,070,545 shares outstanding actual and 0 shares outstanding pro forma as adjusted

     3,819      —  

Series A-1 convertible redeemable preferred stock, $.001 par value; 15,000,000 shares authorized, 5,124,985 shares outstanding actual and 0 shares outstanding pro forma as adjusted

     8,589      —  

Series C cumulative convertible redeemable senior preferred stock, $.001 par value; 38,000,000 shares authorized, 9,910,017 shares outstanding actual and 0 shares outstanding pro forma as adjusted

     18,277      —  

Series C-1 cumulative convertible redeemable senior preferred stock, $.001 par value; 8,000,000 shares authorized, 2,070,545 shares outstanding actual and 0 shares outstanding pro forma as adjusted

     3,819      —  

Series E convertible redeemable preferred stock, $.001 par value; 124,000,000 shares authorized, 117,295,611 shares outstanding actual and 0 shares outstanding pro forma as adjusted

     46,431      —  

Series E-1 convertible redeemable preferred stock, $.001 par value; 43,000,000 shares authorized, 32,046,146 shares outstanding actual and 0 shares outstanding pro forma as adjusted

     11,027      —  

 

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     As of September 30, 2004

 
     Actual

    Pro forma
As Adjusted


 
     (in thousands, except share
and per share data)
 

Stockholders’ equity (deficit):

                

Common stock, par value $0.001 per share; 518,000,000 shares authorized actual and 60,000,000 shares authorized pro forma; 2,728,744 shares issued actual and 24,252,844 shares issued pro forma as adjusted

   $ 3     $ 24  

Series D and Series D-1 convertible preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share; 66,000,000 shares authorized; 58,430,884 shares outstanding actual and 0 shares outstanding pro forma as adjusted

     58       —    

Additional paid-in capital

     17,643       162,884  

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

     (563 )     (563 )

Treasury stock (68,673 shares)

     (1,275 )     (1,275 )

Deferred compensation

     (190 )     (190 )

Accumulated deficit

     (105,068 )     (98,198 )
    


 


Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)

     (89,392 )     62,682  
    


 


Total capitalization

   $ 37,109     $ 78,944  
    


 


 

The above data excludes:

 

  Ÿ   1,565,711 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options as of September 30, 2004 at a weighted average exercise price of $1.12 per share;

 

  Ÿ   an aggregate of 1,300,000 shares of common stock that will be reserved for future issuance under our 2004 stock incentive plan as of the closing of this offering;

 

  Ÿ   shares of our capital stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding warrants as of September 30, 2004 which shall be exercisable for an aggregate of 208,029 shares of common stock upon completion of the offering with a weighted average exercise price of $3.04 per share; and

 

  Ÿ   an aggregate of 156,250 shares of common stock to be issued in connection with the settlement of the dispute with Marmon and certain other common stockholders in November 2004.

 

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DILUTION

 

The pro forma net tangible book deficit as of September 30, 2004 was $(4.9 million), or $(0.25) per share, based on 19,950,322 shares of common stock outstanding after giving effect to the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of our series A-1, C, C-1, D, D-1, E and E-1 preferred stock into common stock upon the closing of this offering and the issuance prior to completion of this offering of 299,117 shares of common stock upon the exercise of outstanding warrants by certain selling stockholders assuming an initial public offering price of $15 per share. Pro forma net tangible book deficit represents the amount of our total tangible assets less total liabilities.

 

After giving effect to our sale of 4,233,849 shares of common stock in this offering, at an assumed initial public offering price of $15 per share, less estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by us and the use of proceeds from this offering to redeem all of our outstanding shares of series B preferred stock and series B-1 preferred stock for approximately $15.2 million upon the closing of this offering, our adjusted pro forma net tangible book value as of September 30, 2004 would have been approximately $59.1 million, or approximately $2.47 per share. This represents an immediate increase in pro forma net tangible book value per share of $2.72 to existing stockholders and immediate dilution in pro forma net tangible book value of $12.53 per share to new investors purchasing our common stock in the offering at the assumed initial public offering price. The following table illustrates the per share dilution without giving effect to the overallotment option granted to the underwriters:

 

Assumed initial public offering price per share

           $ 15.00

Pro forma net tangible book value per share at September 30, 2004

   $ (0.25 )      

Increase per share attributable to new investors

     2.72        
    


     

Adjusted net tangible book value per share after the offering

             2.47
            

Dilution in pro forma net tangible book value per share to new investors

           $ 12.53
            

 

The following table summarizes, as of September 30, 2004, the differences between the number of shares of common stock purchased from us, the total consideration paid and the average price per share paid by our existing stockholders and by new investors in this offering. We have used the initial public offering price of $15 per share, and have not deducted the underwriting discount and commissions and other expenses of the offering:

 

     Shares Purchased

    Total Consideration

    Average
Price
Per Share


     Number

   Percent

    Amount

   Percent

   

Existing stockholders

   19,950,322    82 %   $ 112,959,597    64 %   $ 5.72

New investors

   4,233,849    18       63,507,735    36       15.00
    
  

 

  

     

Total

   24,184,171    100 %   $ 176,467,332    100 %      
    
  

 

  

     

 

The share data in the table above is based on shares outstanding as of September 30, 2004 and excludes:

 

  Ÿ   1,565,711 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options as of September 30, 2004 at a weighted average exercise price of $1.12 per share;

 

  Ÿ   an aggregate of 1,300,000 shares of common stock that will be reserved for future issuance under our 2004 stock incentive plan as of the closing of this offering;

 

  Ÿ   shares of our capital stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding warrants as of September 30, 2004 which shall be exercisable for an aggregate of 208,029 shares of common stock upon completion of the offering with a weighted average exercise price of $3.04 per share; and

 

  Ÿ   an aggregate of 156,250 shares of common stock to be issued in connection with the settlement of the dispute with Marmon and certain other common stockholders in November 2004.

 

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SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OPERATING DATA

 

You should read the following selected consolidated financial and operating data together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus and the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” section of this prospectus. We have derived the consolidated statement of operations data and the balance sheet information as of and for the three fiscal years in the period ended December 31, 2003 from our audited financial statements which have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent registered public accounting firm. The consolidated statement of operations data and the balance sheet information as of and for the two fiscal years in the period ended December 31, 2000 are derived from our audited financial statements which are not included in this prospectus. We have derived the consolidated statement of operations data and balance sheet information for the nine-month periods and the three-month periods ended September 30, 2003 and September 30, 2004, respectively, and as of September 30, 2004, from unaudited financial statements which include, in the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring accruals, necessary to present fairly the data for such periods. Our historical results for any prior period are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for any future period. The results for the nine-month and three-month periods ended September 30, 2004 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full fiscal year.

 

    Year Ended December 31,

    Nine Months Ended
September 30,


    Three Months Ended
September 30,


 
    1999

    2000

    2001

    2002

    2003

    2003

    2004

    2003

    2004

 
    (in thousands, except per share data)  

Statements of Operations Data:

                                                                       

Trading revenues

  $ 131     $ 6,510     $ 96,316     $ 256,253     $ 369,990     $ 272,495     $ 342,056     $ 94,230     $ 117,477  

Fee revenues

    119       1,928       10,189       23,389       33,959       25,042       32,198       8,822       11,530  
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Total revenues

    250       8,438       106,505       279,642       403,948       297,536       374,254       103,051       129,008  

Cost of trading revenues

    130       6,531       96,264       256,212       369,972       272,477       342,023       94,230       117,477  
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


      120       1,907       10,241       23,430       33,976       25,059       32,230       8,822       11,530  

Costs and expenses:

                                                                       

Operations and development

    3,903       11,125       14,034       11,851       10,882       8,149       9,542       2,835       3,524  

Sales and marketing

    1,319       3,710       5,445       4,223       4,713       3,590       3,937       1,013       1,170  

General and administrative

    3,938       9,514       9,250       11,340       9,588       7,509       6,618       2,394       2,176  

Depreciation and amortization

    280       3,927       8,150       9,558       7,204       5,835       6,717       2,102       2,438  

Restructuring costs, asset impairments and litigation settlement

    —         —         5,584       19,464       —         —         850       —         850  
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Total costs and expenses:

    9,440       28,276       42,463       56,436       32,386       25,083       27,664       8,345       10,158  
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Income (loss) from operations

    (9,320 )     (26,369 )     (32,222 )     (33,006 )     1,590       (24 )     4,567       477       1,372  

Loss on extinguishment of debt

    —         —         (305 )     —         —         —         —         —         —    

Interest income

    134       2,604       937       545       342       265       195       83       56  

Interest expense

    (276 )     (330 )     (797 )     (1,241 )     (1,968 )     (1,602 )     (2,182 )     (536 )     (687 )

Other income (expense)

    4       —         (1,446 )     (581 )     32       26       (710 )     (1 )     (323 )
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Net income (loss) from continuing operations

  $ (9,458 )   $ (24,095 )   $ (33,833 )   $ (34,284 )   $ (5 )   $ (1,336 )   $ 1,871     $ 23     $ 417  
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Preferred stock dividends and accretion

  $ (644 )   $ (5,740 )   $ (5,053 )   $ (7,371 )   $ (8,005 )   $ (6,106 )   $ (5,178 )   $ (2,216 )   $ (1,791 )
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Net loss attributable to common stockholders

  $ (12,795 )   $ (30,011 )   $ (38,886 )   $ (41,655 )   $ (8,010 )   $ (7,442 )   $ (3,307 )   $ (2,194 )   $ (1,374 )
   


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


Net income (loss) per common share:

                                                                       

Basic and Diluted

  $ (18.69 )   $ (20.60 )   $ (26.07 )   $ (23.28 )   $ (3.87 )   $ (3.66 )   $ (1.32 )   $ (1.09 )   $ (0.52 )

Pro forma net income (loss) per common share basic

                                  $ —               $ 0.10             $ 0.02  

Pro forma net income (loss) per common share diluted

                                  $ —               $ 0.09             $ 0.02  

Other Data:

                                                                       

EBITDA(1)

  $ (9,036 )   $ (22,442 )   $ (25,823 )   $ (24,030 )   $ 8,825     $ 5,836     $ 10,575     $ 2,578     $ 3,486  

 

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     As of December 31,

   

As of
September 30,

2004


   

Pro forma
as of
September 30,

2004


 
     1999

    2000

    2001

    2002

    2003

     
     (in thousands)           (2)  

Balance Sheet Data:

                                                        

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 26,206     $ 18,341     $ 4,028     $ 6,343     $ 17,147     $ 10,041     $ 10,041  

Working capital

     21,243       7,283       1,914       4,230       10,203       10,872       10,872  

Total assets

     30,837       59,637       59,893       46,710       63,528       70,092       70,092  

Loans payable and capital lease obligations

     1,425       6,472       4,240       13,796       17,636       16,262       16,262  

Redeemable preferred stock

     —         —         15,120       19,266       20,838       22,095       —    

Redeemable convertible preferred stock

     35,910       36,008       57,747       66,646       82,964       88,142       —    

Accumulated deficit

     (14,547 )     (38,818 )     (70,462 )     (106,934 )     (106,939 )     (105,068 )     (105,068 )

Total stockholders’ deficit

     (12,541 )     (1,220 )     (39,884 )     (79,037 )     (86,530 )     (89,392 )     (1,250 )

(1)   EBITDA is defined as net income before (i) depreciation and amortization, (ii) interest income and expense and (iii) income taxes. Management believes that the presentation of EBITDA included in this prospectus provides useful information to investors regarding our results of operations because it assists in analyzing and benchmarking the performance and value of our business. Although we use EBITDA as a financial measure to assess the performance of our business, the use of EBITDA is limited because it does not include certain material costs, such as depreciation, amortization and interest, necessary to operate our business. EBITDA included in this prospectus should be considered in addition to and not as a substitute for, net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP as a measure of performance.

 

A reconciliation of EBITDA to net income (loss) follows:

 

    

Year Ended December 31,


    Nine Months
Ended September 30,


    Three Months
Ended September 30,


 
     1999

    2000

    2001

    2002

    2003

    2003

    2004

    2003

    2004

 
     (in thousands)  

Net income (loss)

   $ (9,458 )   $ (24,095 )   $ (33,833 )   $ (34,284 )   $ (5 )   $ (1,336 )   $ 1,871     $ 23     $ 417  

Depreciation and amortization

     280       3,927       8,150       9,558       7,204       5,835       6,717       2,102       2,438  

Interest income

     (134 )     (2,604 )     (937 )     (545 )     (342 )     (265 )     (195 )     (83 )     (56 )

Interest expense

     276       330       797       1,241       1,968       1,602       2,182       536       687  
    


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


EBITDA

   $ (9,036 )   $ (22,442 )   $ (25,823 )   $ (24,030 )   $ 8,825     $ 5,836     $ 10,575     $ 2,578     $ 3,486  
    


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

(2)   Gives effect to the conversion of all of the outstanding shares of mandatorily redeemable convertible preferred stock into shares of common stock. Does not give effect to the offering or the use of proceeds.

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

The following discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations should be read together with “Selected Consolidated Financial and Operating Data” and our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. This discussion contains forward-looking statements, based on current expectations and related to future events and our future financial performance, that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many important factors, including those set forth under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

Overview

 

We are the leading electronic market for trading, routing and settling communications capacity. Members of our exchange, consisting primarily of communications services providers, anonymously buy and sell voice calls and Internet capacity through our centralized, efficient and liquid marketplace. Communications services providers that do not use our exchange generally individually negotiate and buy access to the networks of other communications services providers to send voice calls and Internet capacity outside of their network. We believe that we provide a cost-effective and efficient alternative to these direct connections. With a single interconnection to our exchange, members have access to all other members’ networks. Members place orders through our easy-to-use web-based interface. Sellers on the exchange post sell orders to send voice calls and Internet capacity for specific destinations, or routes, at various prices. We independently assess the quality of these routes and include that information in the sell order. Buyers enter buy orders based on route quality and price and are matched to sell orders by our fully automated trading platform and our proprietary software. When a buyer’s order is matched to a seller’s order, the voice calls or Internet capacity are then routed through our state-of-the-art facilities. We invoice and process payments for our members’ transactions and manage the credit risk of buyers primarily through our credit management programs with third parties.

 

We launched our current trading platform in August 2000. Our business has grown since our exchange began operations during the year ended December 31, 2000. During fiscal year 2000, we achieved total revenues of $8.4 million and during fiscal year 2003 we achieved total revenues of $403.9 million. During fiscal year 2000 we achieved fee revenues of $1.9 million and during fiscal year 2003 we achieved fee revenues of $34.0 million. We attribute this growth to:

 

  Ÿ   Increase in members and volume of minutes traded.    We had 285 members and 240 members of our exchange as of December 31, 2003 and December 31, 2002, respectively. Over that same period, the minutes that were traded on our exchange increased from approximately 5.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2002 to approximately 7.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2003. We had 343 members and 275 members of our exchange as of September 30, 2004 and September 30, 2003, respectively. Over that same period, the minutes that were traded on our exchange increased from approximately 5.7 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2003 to approximately 7.5 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2004. We believe that as trading volume grows on our exchange the value of our exchange to our members increases. The increase in liquidity on our exchange has enabled our current members to transact in greater volumes and allowed us to acquire new members.

 

  Ÿ   Geographic expansion.    During 2000, we operated one EDP based in New York. We currently operate EDPs in New York, Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt and Hong Kong. This increased geographic presence has resulted in expanded membership and liquidity on our exchange. Such expansion has also resulted in increased market awareness of our exchange and the value which we offer to our members.

 

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  Ÿ   New service offerings.    We have continuously improved ways our members can trade on our exchange and have added numerous additional service offerings such as various levels of voice service. These improvements and expanded service offerings have contributed to the adoption of our exchange and have been incentives for new members to join our exchange.

 

Revenue

 

We generate revenues from both the trading which members conduct on our exchange, which we refer to as trading revenues, and the fees we charge members for the ability to trade on our exchange, which we refer to as fee revenues. Our trading revenue represents the aggregate dollar value of the calls which are routed through our switches at the price agreed to by the buyer and seller of the capacity. For example, if a 10-minute call is originated in France and routed through our facilities to a destination in India for $0.11 per minute, we record $1.10 of trading revenue for the call. Generally, we do not generate any profit or incur any loss from trading revenues because in most cases we pay the seller the same amount that we charge the buyer. We occasionally offer our members contracts to buy and sell minutes to specific markets at fixed rates. We may generate profit or incur losses associated with trading revenue on these contracts. Historically, this profit or loss has not been material to our operating results. Our system automatically records all traffic terminated through our switches.

 

We record trading revenues because:

 

  Ÿ   all traffic traded on our exchange is routed through one of our switches; and

 

  Ÿ   we are obligated to pay sellers for the minutes they sell on our exchange regardless of whether we ultimately collect from buyers.

 

Our fee revenues represent the amounts we charge buyers and sellers for the following:

 

  Ÿ   a monthly minimum fee based on the amount of capacity that members have connected to our switches and overage fees for the number of minutes or megabytes which are routed through our switches in excess of amounts allowed under the monthly minimum, or collectively referred to as access fees, which comprised approximately 80% of fee revenues for the year ended December 31, 2003;

 

  Ÿ   a credit risk management fee, which is a charge for the credit management, clearing and settlement services we provide;

 

  Ÿ   a membership fee to join our exchange; and

 

  Ÿ   additional services as utilized by our members for items such as premium service offerings and accelerated payment terms.

 

Costs and Expenses

 

Our cost of trading revenues consists of the cost of calls which are routed through our switches at the price agreed to by both the buyer and seller of the capacity. In the example above, we would record cost of trading revenues equal to $1.10, an amount which we would pay to the seller.

 

Operations and development expense consists of costs related to supporting our exchange, such as salaries, benefits, bonuses and related costs of engineering, technical support, product and software development and system support personnel, as well as facilities and interconnect costs. Sales and marketing consists of salaries, benefits, commissions, bonuses and related costs of sales and marketing personnel, trade shows and other marketing activities. General and administrative costs consist of salaries, benefits, bonuses of corporate, finance and administrative personnel, bad debt expense and outside service costs, such as legal and accounting fees.

 

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Our operations and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative costs are predominantly fixed in nature. We have grown, and believe we will be able to continue to grow, fee revenues significantly faster than these operating costs and expenses. For example, these costs and expenses increased approximately 4% from $19.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2003 to $20.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2004, while our fee revenue grew approximately 29% over the same period.

 

Business Development

 

We will continue to seek to increase our trading volume. We aim to achieve this by increasing participation on our exchange from existing members, increasing membership on our exchange, expanding our global presence, developing and marketing complementary services and leveraging our platform to allow the trading, routing and settling of other digital goods, such as Internet capacity. We currently have EDPs in New York, Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt and Hong Kong. We plan to expand our presence in the high-growth markets of Asia through our EDP in Hong Kong and Latin America with a new EDP in Miami, Florida or South America. We can initially establish an EDP in a new market without any additional capital by directly connecting the new EDP to one of our existing EDPs through a leased network, as we have accomplished for our EDPs in Hong Kong and Frankfurt. Once we have sufficient business in a new market, we may install a new switch for the EDP in that market for a cost of approximately $1.0 million, which would be funded either with proceeds from this offering or from operating cash flow. We plan to develop, market and expand services that are complementary to our existing offerings, including enhanced trading, credit and clearing services and switch partitioning. We may not be successful in doing so due to many factors, including the business environment in which we operate. For a further discussion of regulatory, technological and other changes relevant to our business, see “Business—Industry Background.”

 

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

 

Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of our operations are based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the amounts reported for assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and the disclosure of contingent liabilities. Our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

Our critical accounting policies are those that we believe are both important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and often involve difficult, subjective or complex judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. Management evaluates these estimates, including those related to bad debts, income taxes, long-lived assets, restructuring, contingencies and litigation on an ongoing basis. The estimates are based on historical experience and on various assumptions about the ultimate outcome of future events. Our actual results may differ from these estimates because we did not estimate correctly.

 

We believe the following critical accounting policies affect our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements:

 

  Ÿ  

During the twelve month period ended September 30, 2004, we granted 390,583 options with exercise prices ranging from $5.76 per share to $18.56 per share and deemed fair value of the underlying common stock to be the same as the exercise price for accounting purposes. Although we did not obtain contemporaneous valuations by an unrelated valuation specialist for each of the four quarters in the twelve month period ended September 30, 2004, we did perform contemporaneous estimates of the fair value of our common stock. Given our stage of development and the relative proximity to the anticipated initial public offering, we believed that a probability weighted combination of (1) a market approach based on comparable company analysis and recent preferred stock financings and

 

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(2) an estimate of the valuation at the time of an anticipated initial public offering was the best approach to use. Our enterprise value was then allocated to the preferred stock and common stock based on the probability assigned to a possible initial public offering. This approach is complex and based on a number of estimates and assumptions and the adjustment of any of the factors could result in an estimate of fair value which is materially different than the one we determined. Management’s valuations considered a number of factors including:

 

  Ÿ   Key company milestones

 

  Ÿ   Comparable company and industry analysis

 

  Ÿ   Third party preferred stock investments and the impact of those investments on the common stock value

 

  Ÿ   Anticipated initial public offering price per share and the timing of the initial public offering

 

The differences between the range of deemed fair values of $5.76 to $18.56 per share for stock options granted during the last twelve months and the assumed initial public offering price of $15 per share were a result of the following factors:

 

  Ÿ   During the fourth quarter of 2003, the deemed fair value was $5.76 per share. The board began to discuss the process of evaluating investment banks for underwriting a potential initial public offering. The fourth quarter of 2003 was our first full quarter of positive net income. While we were beginning to have such discussions with investment banks, it was still very unsure whether we were going to be able to have a successful initial public offering given the lack of history of profitability and the unsure stock market conditions.

 

  Ÿ   During the first quarter of 2004, the deemed fair value was $8.48 per share and we believed that the probability of an initial public offering was improving. We added two outside directors to our board as we continued to prepare for an initial public offering and the board began to further assess our readiness for an initial public offering. We also achieved our second consecutive quarter of profitability.

 

  Ÿ   During the second quarter of 2004, the deemed fair value was $18.56 per share and we selected a team of investment banks to assist us in our anticipated initial public offering. We also hired a chief financial officer with public company experience. We assessed the likelihood of an initial public offering at a high level and we started to use the anticipated initial public offering price less a 20% discount for market and liquidity risk, as the exercise price for newly granted stock options. The 20% discount is an estimate that we measured by assessing many factors including the prospects for liquidity, restrictions or transferability of the underlying securities, uncertainty of value and the concentration of ownership among our current shareholders.

 

  Ÿ   During the third quarter of 2004, we filed a Registration Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the initial public offering of our common stock. The anticipated initial public offering price was $15 per share that we deemed to be fair value. Due to the uncertainty of the initial public offering price, we did not adjust our option exercise price from the $18.56 per share we used during the second quarter of 2004.

 

Based on an expected initial public offering price per share of $15, the intrinsic value of “in-the-money” options outstanding at September 30, 2004 was $18,502,728, of which $9,642,610 related to vested options and $8,860,118 related to unvested options.

 

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Although it is reasonable to expect that the completion of the initial public offering will add value to the shares because they will have increased liquidity and marketability, the amount of additional value can be measured with neither precision nor certainty.

 

  Ÿ   Long-lived assets.    We assess the impairment of long-lived assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable, in accordance with SFAS No. 144, “Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets.” Factors we consider important which could trigger an impairment review include the following: