avatar
Computers, General news, Internet, Finance

Ellison’s Netsuite Sails Toward IPO


Netsuite, the on-demand business software firm whose majority owner is Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison and his family, is moving closer to its planned 6.2 million share initial public offering after setting its projected price range at $13 to $16 per share.

 

Shares of the San Mateo, California-based company would be traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “N.”

 

Netsuite estimates that the IPO could raise about $99.2 million at the high end of its price range and that the company would net after expenses about $80.9 million if the IPO goes off in the middle of its price range.

 

The company plans to use the proceeds for possible acquisitions and $10 million to $15 million to pay off a line of credit with Tako Ventures, Mr. Ellison’s investment vehicle, according to a government filing.

 

Mr. Ellison and his family own 73.7 percent of Netsuite pre-IPO and will retain 66.1 percent afterward. New York City-based venture capital firm StarVest Partners is the largest institutional holder with a 5.1 percent pre-IPO stake.

 

Netsuite also has had a “verbal agreement” with Mr. Ellison’s sailboat racing syndicate under which it puts its logos on sailboats in exchange for its software services. The company estimates the value of the logo placement for 2004, 2005, and 2006 were about $250,000 to $350,000 per year, according to government filings.

 

Netsuite also has a deal with the Oakland Athletics under which it will pay the team $375,000 over three years in exchange for sponsorship benefits and $260,000 for advertising and promotion. Billy Beane, the A’s general manager who was the subject of the book “Moneyball,” is a member of the Netsuite board of directors.

 

In the Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company said Mr. Ellison planned to shift 32 million shares, or about 60 percent of the outstanding common stock as of September 30,  to a “lockbox” company. The move is designed to neutralize his voting control over the Netsuite board of directors and avert conflicts of interest given his role at Oracle.