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SolarWinds, Inc. has filed to come public via an initial public offering.  It noted an amount in the IPO of up to $250 million in equity sales and has applied for he ticker "SWI" on the New York Stock Exchange.  Lead underwriters are listed as JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brothers.  Co-managers are listed as UBS and Thomas Weisel Partners.

The company is surprisingly not an alternative energy company like the name might lead you to believe.  It provides powerful enterprise-class network management software designed by network professionals for network professionals. Its offerings range from individual software tools to more comprehensive software products, solve problems faced every day by network professionals and help to enable efficient and effective network management.  Its aim seems be intuitive and easily customizable user interfaces and built-in workflows which can be downloaded directly from its websites. and then can be installed and configured by our end-users in a matter of hours.

Through December 31, 2007, it claims over 50,000 customers within small and mid-size businesses, enterprises (including more than 350 of the Fortune 500 companies), and government entities had purchased one or more of its products.

It also listed its average license transaction in 2007 was less than $6,000, compared to hundreds of thousands of dollars for many competing products.  Its financial performance is listed as follows:

• Revenue of $27.9 million in 2005, operating income of $23.0 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $23.0 million.
• Revenue of $38.2 million in 2006, operating income of $25.4 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $27.1 million.
• Revenue of $61.7 million in 2007, operating income of $30.9 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $35.4 million.

Jon C. Ogg
March 24, 2008