Keep an Eye On
After delaying its IPO, Box Inc. might be looking elsewhere for a cash infusion. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier in the week that the Los Altos, CA-based online storage company is in discussions with TPG Capital to raise as much as $100 million, around what it raised in its last round of venture funding. Box is not yet profitable, having sustained a $168 million net loss last year, but has raised over $414 million to date at a $2 billion valuation. In any case, a private equity deal would likely push Box’s IPO, which was filed for three months ago, to the end of the summer.
The online commerce conglomerate Alibaba announced Friday that it would trade on the NYSE under the BABA ticker symbol. The decision comes as a blow to Nasdaq, which has billed itself as the destination for technology stocks, especially amidst rumors that Alibaba could be looking to raise as much as $20 billion by selling a 12 percent stake in the company. The BABA ticker symbol is also considered auspicious, as “ba” is the Chinese word for eight, and rhymes with “fa,” the Chinese word for prosperity. In fact, there are rumors that Alibaba management would like to begin trading on August 8th for the very same reason.
Now Trading
In one of the most anticipated IPO to date this year, GoPro Inc. began trading yesterday on the Nasdaq at $24. The stock immediately surged and reached as high as $33 on its first day. GoPro, which raised around $425 billion to the tune of a $3 billion valuation, received much of its early backing from Dean Woodman, the father of founder Nick Woodman, but later sought investment from a group that included Foxconn. It also recently announced that former Skype CEO Tony Bates would join as president behind the CEO Woodman. JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Barclays led the underwriting.
Imprivata, a Boston-based provider of access and authentication management solutions for the healthcare industry, generated $75 million after selling 5 million shares at $15 Tuesday. The stock was up over 8 percent at the end of the first day of trading, with the share price having hiked to $16.25. JP Morgan and Piper Jaffray handled the underwriting for the company that was backed by VC funds General Catalyst Partners, Highland Capital Partners, and Polaris Partners.
Materialise NV, a Belgium-based provider of 3D printing software and services, started trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq under the “MTLS” ticker symbol. The company sold 8 million shares at $12, the low end of the range it outlined in its initial filing, and as of Friday morning, was trading around $11.88. The fifteen-year old company is the first 3D printing company to IPO since Voxeljet last October. The company counts Johnson & Johnson, Ford, and Boeing among its other customers, and reported €3.9 million in net income on €69 million in revenue last year. The process was led by Piper Jaffray and Credit Suisse.