Hoover's Analysis For Q3 2001 Shows Immediate Hope For IPO Market Comeback Dashed By Terrorist Attacks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Quarterly Hoover's IPO Scorecard Now Available On Hoover's IPO Central

AUSTIN, TEXAS - October 3, 2001 - The sluggish pace of an already struggling IPO market at the start of the third quarter 2001 ended abruptly by quarter's end, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., according to the latest IPO Scorecard (www.hoovers.com/ipo/scorecard) from Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV). Hoover's, the publisher of Hoover's Online (www.hoovers.com), is a leading provider of online business information and tools to help businesspeople get their jobs done. Hoover's Online editors - in addition to covering thousands of public and private companies worldwide - produce the IPO Scorecard, a regular, quarterly wrap-up of IPO activity. The Scorecard is released on the IPO Central area on Hoover's Online.

Very few IPOs came to market in Q3 2001 - only 12, to be exact, and many had uneven aftermarket performance. With no sector emerging as a clear leader, underwriters continued to seek the more "comfortable" IPOs, mainly in the form of spinoffs from established companies. However, even this trend came to a halt on Sept. 11, 2001. With key executives still missing from the attack on the World Trade Center, and a wavering level of confidence nationwide, many IPOs planned for the last two weeks of September 2001 were postponed indefinitely.

Sample findings from Hoover's IPO Scorecard for the third quarter of 2001:

• The $1.7 billion flotation of Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting, accounted for about 60% of the total IPO capital raised in Q3 2001.
• Best First-Day Gain: Omnicell, Inc. (Nasdaq: OMCL) 37%
• Worst First-Day Drop: Max Re Capital Ltd. (Nasdaq: MXRE) -3%
• The 12 IPOs for Q3:

	Offer	Q3 Close	Return
Wright Medical Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: WMGI)	$12.50	$16.94	36%
Inergy, L.P. (Nasdaq: NRGY)	$22.00	$25.95	18%
Omnicell, Inc. (Nasdaq: OMCL)	$7.00	$7.50	7%
Alliance Imaging, Inc. (NYSE: AIQ)	$13.00	$13.90	7%
Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG)	$16.00	$17.00	6%
Max Re Capital Ltd. (Nasdaq: MXRE)	$16.00	$14.30	-11%
Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN)	$14.50	$12.75	-12%
PDF Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDFS)	$12.00	$10.25	-15%
Natus Medical Incorporated (Nasdaq: BABY)	$11.00	$7.65	-30%
MedCath Corporation (Nasdaq: MDTH)	$25.00	$16.15	-35%
Mykrolis Corporation (NYSE: MYK)	$15.00	$8.97	-40%
HPL Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: HPLA)	$11.00	$4.41	-60%

"The end of September is traditionally a slow time for IPOs, but this is a standstill. We haven't seen an IPO deal go through since mid-August, and the few deals that planned to kick off the new IPO season were scratched because of recent tragic events," said Justin Burrows, money editor for Hoover's Online. "Given Imaging Ltd., an IPO originally slated for the week of Sept. 10, has been rescheduled for this week - a hopeful sign for the 100-plus viable IPOs in registration. The fourth quarter of 2001 will be one of recovery, as underwriters try to get investors interested in IPOs again."

About Hoover's, Inc.

Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV) provides online business information and tools to help businesspeople get their jobs done. Hoover's information is available through its destination site Hoover's Online (http://www.hoovers.com); through co-branding agreements with other online services; and through customized applications developed for enterprise information portals. Hoover's investors include AOL Time Warner (NYSE: AOL), Media General (AMEX: MEG.A), and Knowledge Universe, through its Knowledge Net Holdings and Nextera Enterprises (Nasdaq: NXRA) units. Hoover's is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has offices in New York City and San Francisco.

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