ExactTarget rises in 1st day trading on the NYSE

NEW YORK (AP) — ExactTarget Inc.'s stock gained more than 30 percent midway through its first day as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange.

The interactive marketing software company's stock rose $6 to $25 in afternoon trading Thursday.

ExactTarget, which is based in Indianapolis, had priced the 8.5 million shares in its initial public offering at $19 per share. That was above the price range of $15 to $17 per share that the company gave in an earlier filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Based on the what the shares were priced at, ExactTarget's net proceeds would be $161.5 million before deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses.

ExactTarget said that it plans to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including expanding its sales and marketing teams, product development efforts and general and administrative functions. It also expects to use the funds for working capital and to repay a term loan and revolving credit line and may use some of the proceeds for acquisitions.

ExactTarget is giving the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.3 million shares to cover any excess demand.

The Indianapolis company expects to have approximately 64.5 million outstanding shares after the offering. It anticipates 65.8 million outstanding shares if the underwriters fully exercise their option.

ExactTarget said it had a loss of $35.4 million on revenue of $207.5 million in 2011. The company lost$12.1 million on revenue of $134.3 million in 2010.

In its regulatory filing, ExactTarget said that its software is meant to help businesses communicate with their customers through email, mobile, social media and websites. Its clients include Microsoft Corp., Priceline.com Inc. and Angie's List Inc.

ExactTarget is trading under the ticker symbol "ET."