AltaVista to go public

CMGI Inc. holds 82 percent of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based AltaVista, which has about 45 million unique monthly visitors to its Web site. AltaVista did not disclose in its preliminary prospectus filed with the SEC how many shares it plans to sell or the projected range per share. The company had about $52.6 million in revenue during the three months ended Oct. 31 and posted $267.7 million in net losses during that period, according to the filing. AltaVista said it planned to use the proceeds for advertising, working capital and other general corporate purposes. It has applied to sell its shares on Nasdaq under the symbol "ALTA". The underwriters include Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Hambrecht & Quist, Robertson Stephens, Prudential Volpe Technology and Wit Capital Corp.