Dolby Laboratories Inc. (DLB: chart) is expected to become a public company this Thursday Feb. 17, 2005.

The San Francisco-based leader in digital surround sound, home theater systems and DVD players plans to raise $426 million offering 27.5 million shares for between $13.50 and $15.50 each.

Dolby’s founder Ray Dolby will be selling 17 million shares.

The IPO is underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Goldman, Sachs & Co., JP Morgan, Adam Harkness and William Blair & Co.

Even though Dolby definitely enjoys the warmest reception it's not the largest IPO to expect.

Another deal expected on Wednesday Feb. 16 is Wright Express Corp. (WXS: chart), which plans to raise $966 million by selling 40 million shares for between $19 and $21 each.

South Portland, Maine-based Wright Express provides fleets using its services with detailed transaction data, analysis tools and purchase control capabilities.

An Enid, Oklahoma-based energy company Hiland Partners LP (HLND: chart) made the biggest first-day gain so far this year. The Company, provider of natural gas gathering and processing services, priced 2 million shares at $22.50 above the expected range of $19 to $21.

AG Edwards, Raymond James and RBC Capital Markets led the underwriting.

The company’s shares climbed 28.8% to close at $28.97 on Friday.

IPO PERFORMANCE

Huntsman Corporation (HUN: chart), a Salt Lake City-based chemicals producer, priced its shares on Feb. 10, offering 60 million shares at $23 per share. The pricing came in at the high end of the targeted range of $21 to $23, and the number of shares increased from 55.68 million.

Huntsman also priced 5 shares of 5% mandatory convertible preferred stock at $50.00 per share.

Twelve underwriters led the deal, including Citigroup, CS First Boston, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank.

The $1.45 billion IPO of formerly the world's largest privately-held chemical producer ranks as the second richest from the chemical sector.

The company’s shares climbed 6.5% to close at $24.50 on Friday.

Korean gamer Gravity Co. (GRVY: chart) raised about $126 million with underwriter CS First Boston Corp. Gravity priced 9.3 million ADS at $13.50, the bottom of their expected $13.50 to $15.50 price range. The stock closed its first trading at $12.59, down 6.7%.

The company develops and distributes online games in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand.

Gravity’s shares climbed 7.09% to close at $11.78 on Friday.

Irving, Texas-based rural telecom company Valor Communications Group Inc. (VCG: chart) priced 29.4 million shares at $15 a share. The pricing came in below the expected range of $16 to $18.

The company raised $441 million via underwriters Merrill Lynch, Banc of America Securities and J.P. Morgan.