Mercata Shelves IPO

Bellevue-based Mercata Inc. an e-tailer with the backing of technology industry heavy Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, pulled a $100 million IPO Wednesday citing poor market conditions.

In a Jan. 2 letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company -- which had been set to go public on March 9 under the symbol MCTA -- said it would not pursue the IPO at this time "based upon changed circumstances regarding the securities markets."

Mercata offers Internet-based demand aggregation services. It had planned to use the funds raised through the IPO for working capital and general corporate purposes like marketing and product development.