IPO Watch: Ancestry.com Up in Debut

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Genealogy Web site Ancestry.com is soaring by 11% in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq.

The stock reached $14.95 in afternoon trading, after its initial public offering priced in the middle of its expected range.

Ancestry.com priced 7.4 million shares at $13.50 each, smack dab in the middle of its predicted range of $12.50 to $14.50. The IPO raised $100 million.

Underwriters are being offered up to an additional 1.1 million shares to cover overallotments, which could bring the total up to $115 million.

The company plans to use proceeds of about $48.4 million for general corporate purposes and to repay debt. It may also use a slice to make an acquisition or invest in technologies.

"Ancestry.com has built a respectable, niche business with an emerging network effect," Morningstar's IPO analyst Bill Buhr wrote in a note. "But we are skeptical that there is a large, untapped pool of customers that would be interested in the service, potentially making it difficult to sustain revenue growth."

If Buhr is wrong, however, and the market for family trees is bigger than anticipated, Ancestry.com is one of the only options for this service. Hyatt Hotels(H) also began trading today with much fanfare. Shares of the hotel operator are spiking 12% to $28 in afternoon trading.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York

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