27 May 2003 Business intelligence software vendor Crystal Decisions has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) that could raise as much as $172.5 million.

Such a stock offering would suggest that the IPO window is opening after three years of minimal IPO activity and plunging stock prices.

Crystal Decisions is one of a handful of technology companies considered attractive enough for a successful IPO in the current climate, alongside search service Google and customer relationship management software supplier Salesforce.com.

Everybody is a little bit afraid to be the IPO guinea pig… If you see somebody like Crystal Decisions with a successful IPO, you are going to see other people doing it,” Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff told the Wall Street Journal.

Crystal Decisions was sold off by its parent, disk drive maker Seagate Technology, in November 2000 to a consortium of private investors, led by Silver Lake Capital Partners and Texas Pacific Group.

Formerly called Seagate Software, its biggest product is the Crystal Reports business intelligence reporting tool. The company has sold more than seven million Crystal Reports licences, aided by a bundling deal with software giant Microsoft.

In its third quarter to the end of March, it increased revenues by 30% to $73 million. Revenues for the nine months were up by a similar percentage to $209.3 million.