Torch Offshore's IPO Checks in at $16

Torch Offshore Inc., an undersea construction firm, priced its initial public offering at $16, the top end of its expected price range, underwriter UBS Warburg said on Thursday.

The company offered 5 million shares and raised $80 million through the deal. Torch, which will trade under the symbol "TORC" on the Nasdaq, had expected the deal to price between $14 to $16 per share.

The offering comes amid a spate of energy company IPOs, such as Global Power Equipment Group Inc. and Encore Acquisition Co. aiming to whet investor appetite for investments that gain with a perceived shortage of energy.

Gretna, La.-based Torch, which serves undersea drilling operations of oil and gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico, posted revenue of $29.9 million in the first nine months of 2000, with earnings before interest, taxation, amortization and depreciation of $3.3 million.