IPO
GoDaddy filed with the SEC to go public on June 9th, but the absence of IPO terms in its newly updated S-1 suggest that the domain name registrar and web hosting company will not go forward with doing so until next year. GoDaddy is currently backed by three major PE shops: KKR, Silver Lake, and Technology Crossover Ventures. Its underwriters, meanwhile, will include Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Citigroup.
MYOB, an Australian tax accounting software firm, has with its private equity backer Bain Capital retained Reunion Capital Advisors in preparation for an IPO. The Wall Street Journal reports the company could raise over $2.5 billion when it debuts on the public markets in early 2015. Bain, which is expected to maintain a significant portion of its stake in the company post-IPO, purchased MYOB for around $1 billion in 2011.
Shares in CNOVA, the e-commerce arm of the French retailer Casino, began trading on the Nasdaq Thursday at $7.63 after a raise of around $188 million. The opening price was well below the company’s desired target range of $12.50 to $14.50.
M&A
In a week that saw the M&A wire dominated by talk of the Halliburton/Baker Hughes and Actavis/Allegran mergers, there were several tech-related deals as well.
Rubicon Project, a real-time bidding (RTB) advertising platform, purchased fellow ad tech providers iSocket and Shiny Ads. The Wall Street Journal reports that the two companies were together acquired for less than $30 million, most of it in stock. Still, the deal marks a significant move in ad tech. iSocket and Shiny Ads offer what are called “automated guaranteed sales.” Where RTB requires marketers and publishers to constantly bid on ad space, “automated guaranteed” promises an ad buyer a predetermined amount of web impressions at an agreed upon price. iSocket had raised over $15 million from investors that included DFJ and the Foundry Group, while Toronto-based Shiny Ads had $500,000 in seed capital from Maple Leaf Angels and York Angel Investors.
Groupon announced Monday that it has acquired Swarm Mobile, a data analytics platform that uses WiFi, Bluetooth, and infrared to provide consumer insights to brick and mortar retailers. Swarm had raised $4.5 million in venture financing from, among others, the rap artist Nas. “The more merchants understand about consumer shopping habits, the more customers benefit through specialized offers, tailored notifications, and the opportunity to provide real-time feedback,” said Groupon through a press release on its website, “We’re excited to have Swarm join us in our mission to connect local commerce.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Koch Industries will spend over $400 million to acquire Oplink Communications, Inc., a publicly traded manufacturer of optical networking components and systems. The $24.25 per share that Koch will pay represents a 14% premium over Oplink’s closing stock price. The Fremont, Calif-based Oplink currently has 3,700 employees, and reported $200 million in revenue last year alongside $10 million in profit.
Emdeon, a health I.T. and revenue cycle management firm from Nashville, Tennessee, announced Thursday its $135 million acquisition of Change Healthcare from the nearby Nashville suburb of Brentwood. The deal, which comprises additional payments of up to $50 million contingent on financial objectives, will allow Emdeon to “offer its customers additional solutions that marry cost and quality information with a robust inventory of consumer behavioral insights,” wrote the company.
Thursday also heralded the $240 million acquisition of U.S.-based telecom network service provider Lightbridge Communication Corp, by India’s Tech Mahindra Ltd. The deal, which is expected to close by Q4 2015, comprises a 100% stake in Lightbridge, which is based in Virginia. It will also see Mahindra, India’s fifth-largest software services exporter, take on 5,700 employees in 50 countries. The move takes Mahindra closer to its target of $5 billion in revenue by 2017.