The Swiss-based broadband multimedia software specialist The Fantastic Corporation has confirmed that it intends to launch an initial public offering on Frankfurt’s Neuer Markt, expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year. Goldman Sachs has been appointed as global co-ordinator and Deutsche Bank as retail co-ordinator. Fantastic also said it "plans to meet investor interest outside of Europe".

Fantastic last week secured additional financing to the tune of $20 million to help fund the expansion of its international sales and marketing operation.

Fantastic announced revenues of $6.1 million for the first half of 1999, an increase of 295 per cent over the $1.6 million recorded for the first half of 1998. Net loss for the first half was $10.3 million, compared with $5.6 million in 1998. Fantastic also said that its order book for the first half totalled $11.4 million. Operating costs, meanwhile, rose from $6.9 million for the first half of 1998 to $15.2 million for the first half of the current year. Fantastic said the figures showed a proportional drop in development costs relative to the total operating costs, reflecting the company’s shift from a software developer pure and simple to a sales and marketing-oriented organisation.