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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Spring Showers Of IPO Filings Indicate Potentially Busy Summer Season

AUSTIN, TEXAS - April 1, 2002 - While there does not appear to be an industry frontrunner within the collection of IPOs so far this year, there were more IPO filings in just the first two weeks of March than in any month since 2000. Given the median IPO gestation period of 45 to 60 days, this portends a busy Q2 2002 docket, according to quarterly analysis in the latest IPO Scorecard (www.hoovers.com/ipo/scorecard) from Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV), a leading provider of business information and publisher of the Hoover's Online (www.hoovers.com) service.

Hoover's Q1 2002 IPO Scorecard shows there were 15 IPOs for the quarter, which raised $8.98 billion, compared to 23 IPOs for the year-ago quarter, which raised $7.55 billion. In addition, in Q1 2002, online retailer Overstock.com became the first dot-com to file for an IPO since July 2000. The largest IPO in Q1 2002 was the Citigroup spinoff of Travelers Property Casualty Corp. (NYSE: TAP), which raised $3.9 billion and ranked as the fifth-largest IPO ever completed. Additionally, the majority of Q1 2002 IPO pricings and filings were listed on the NYSE, typically the home for bigger and better-established companies.

Hoover's Online editors - in addition to providing continuously updated information on thousands of private and public companies worldwide - produce the IPO Scorecard, a regular, quarterly wrap-up of IPO activity. The Scorecard is released on the IPO Central area of Hoover's Online.

Sample findings from Hoover's IPO Scorecard for the first quarter of 2002:

• From offer price to the close of Q1 2002, the best-returning IPO was Synaptics Incorporated, at 57%, compared to the best-returning IPO for Q1 2001, Williams Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: WEG), at 40%.
• Best First-Day Gain: PayPal, Inc. (Nasdaq: PYPL) 54%
• The top 10 best-returning IPOs for Q1:

	Offer	Q1 Close	Return
Synaptics Incorporated (Nasdaq: SYNA)	$11.00	$17.25	57%
PayPal, Inc. (Nasdaq: PYPL)	$13.00	$ 19.05	47%
WCI Communities, Inc. (NYSE: WCI)	$19.00	$ 24.40	28%
Integrated Defense Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: IDE)	$22.00	$27.75	26%
Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. (Nasdaq: PETC)	$19.00	$ 23.59	24%
ManTech International Corporation (NYSE: MANT)	$16.00	$ 18.60	16%
Anteon International Corporation (NYSE: ANT)	$18.00	$ 20.80	16%
GameStop, Inc. (NYSE: GME)	$18.00	$20.20	12%
Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (NYSE: SXL)	$20.25	$ 22.15	9%
Travelers Property Casualty Corp. (NYSE: TAP.A)	$18.50	$ 20.00	8%

"The quantity of IPOs may be down slightly from the year-ago quarter, but the quality and deal size of the offerings remain high, as seen with the larger Q1 2002 spinoffs of Nestle eyecare subsidiary Alcon Inc. (NYSE: ACL) and Travelers, which together raised $6.2 billion," said Justin Burrows, Money editor for Hoover's Online. "And don't count out the smaller guys -- the two smallest deals of Q1, Synaptics and PayPal, delivered the best investment returns."

Burrows sees other positive indicators for the IPO market. "The quarter saw 43 companies file to go public -- the busiest filing period since 71 firms filed to go public in Q4 2000, the tail end of the IPO boom. Many of these companies will likely hit the public market in the second and third quarters of 2002."

Aftermarket performance is encouraging as well, with only two of the Q1 2002 IPOs currently trading below their issue price and none closing down on the first day. "The IPO horizon is peppered with additional potential mega-deals and spinoffs, including Verizon Wireless, General Electric's Employers Reinsurance Corp. unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' consulting arm, PwC Consulting," Burrows said.

About Hoover's, Inc.

Hoover's, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV) is a leading provider of business information. Hoover's publishes authoritative information on public and private companies worldwide, and provides industry and market intelligence. This information, along with advanced searching tools, is available through Hoover's Online (www.hoovers.com), the company's premier online service that helps sales, marketing, recruiting and business development professionals and senior-level executives get the global intelligence they need to grow their businesses. Hoover's business information is also available through corporate intranets and distribution agreements with licensees, as well as via print and CD-ROM products from Hoover's Business Press. Hoover's investors include AOL Time Warner (NYSE: AOL), Media General (NYSE: MEG), and Knowledge Universe. Hoover's is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has offices in New York City and San Francisco.

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