Aladdin Systems Goes Public

In an unusual event in the Macintosh industry, Aladdin Systems, makers of the StuffIt family of compression products and numerous other Mac utilities, has gone public via a "reverse merger," which involves a private company merging with a dormant public company so its shares can be traded on public stock exchanges. Reverse mergers are generally easier, less expensive, and result in less-diluted stock than IPOs (initial public offerings). Aladdin Holdings, Inc., the parent company of which Aladdin Systems, Inc. is now a wholly owned subsidiary, is listed under the ticker symbol ALHI and currently trading at about $5 per share. Going public should increase Aladdin’s valuation, give them greater access to capital, and enable them to use stock to acquire other products or companies – a strategy Aladdin has used of late to increase its product lineup.