Online Firm Plans $625-Million IPO

Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Inc. hopes to sell 7 million Class B common shares to investors for $8 to $10 each in its planned initial stock offering, according to a regulatory filing.

If the shares sell for a median $9 apiece, that would give Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch an implied market value of about $625 million, based on about 69.5 million common shares to be outstanding after the offering.

Analysts had expected the firm to have a market value of about $700 million when the combination of Ticketmaster Online and CitySearch was announced in August.

The Pasadena-based company combines businesses that offer online cultural-events guides and Internet ticket sales. In its initial IPO filing, it didn’t disclose the number of shares it would sell or their expected price range.

The Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch offering could test if investors’ appetite for small-company stocks has returned, analysts said.

The company brings together the online business of USA Networks Inc.’s Ticketmaster unit with CitySearch Inc.’s Internet city guides.