Liquidity Services debuted on Wall Street Thursday with an IPO of 7.7 million shares.

Shares of the company (NASDAQ: LQDT), which is based in D.C., were priced at $10 apiece and rose to $12.69 before closing at $12.29.

Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, RBC Capital Markets, CIBC World Markets and Pacific Crest Securities brought Liquidity Services to market.

Liquidity Services began operations in 2000 as an online auction marketplace for wholesale, surplus and salvage assets. It holds an exclusive contract with the Defense Department for the sale of surplus and scrap goods.

The company also operates a wholesale industry portal that connects advertisers with buyers seeking products for sale.

Registered online buyers grew from 292,000 to 415,000 last year.

Posted: 02|24|06 at 10:57 am. Filed under: US News.