Bankrate Shares Holding Firm Ahead of Secondary Offering (RATE, GS, BAC)

Bankrate, Inc. (NYSE: RATE) is actually holding up better than many secondary offering and post-IPO investors might have considered today.  The company announced after the close on Friday that its underwriters agreed to waive lock-up restrictions with respect to up to 302,128 shares of common stock of Bankrate held corporate officers.

The waiver, agreed to by book-running managers Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), via Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, will allow these corporate officers to sell these shares in the offering. The waiver is set to take effect on December 6, 2011, and any of these shares are able to be sold on or after that date.

Where this gets interesting is that Dow Jones lists Bankrate as a being expected to sell up to 10.5 million shares in a deal expected to price some time this week and as of Friday the stock was up 18% from its IPO price.

The company’s filing was dated November 23 for up to just over 12 million shares if the overallotment option is exercised.

Shares were just above $18.50 as recently as last Wednesday and shares were just above $19.50 before the filing for the secondary hit on November 23.  Bankrate shares are up almost 1% at $17.40 so far on Monday and the 52-week trading range is $13.38 to $21.94.

JON C. OGG