IPO INSIGHT: Please don’t forget about the other IPO hopefuls
What’s in store for the publicly traded and their future in M&A
February 6, 2012
Facebook and its plans to take the company public are still gracing headlines. Last week, the social media networking site filed its S-1 during the late afternoon on Feb. 1, with the hopes of raising $5 billion. But while reporters were digging through Facebook’s filing with a fine tooth comb, there were a couple of IPO hopefuls that got overshadowed.
This week, Brightcove, the cloud content video service provider, updated its S-1 filing on Feb. 6, with plans to raise $55 million by offering 5 million shares at $10 to $12 apiece. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company, which was founded in 2004, initially filed its S-1 on August 24, 2011 with plans to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol, BCOV. Brightcove tapped Morgan Stanley and Stifel Nicolaus Weisel as its lead underwriters.
Venture capital firms, General Catalyst and Accel Partners, are listed as the company’s largest shareholders. According to the filing, the two will collectively own approximately 42.7 percent of Brightcove’s outstanding common stock and will probably continue to have control over the company once it goes public.
Proceeds from the offering would be used to repay outstanding debt, and the remainder would be set aside “for working capital and general corporate purposes.” The company also stated that it may use some of the extra capital to buy businesses, technologies and products that are complementary to its services, but would need to raise more capital in order to do so. “In the event additional funding is required, we may not be able to obtain bank credit arrangements or equity or debt financing on terms acceptable to us or at all,” the company wrote in its S-1 filing.
The day after Facebook filed its S-1, Roundy’s Supermarket updated its filing. The Wisconsin-based supermarket chain, which initially filed in mid December of last year, set its offering price within the range of $10 to $12 per share. It hopes to raise $111 million by selling 50 percent, or 20.9 million of its outstanding stock, which includes 11.4 million of the company’s shares, as well as 6.8 million shares owned by individual shareholders. If all goes according to plan, those shareholders will have the option to sell an additional 2.7 million shares. Roundy’s will be left with approximately 41.5 million, which is owned by its private equity owner, Willis Stein & Partners.
A day prior to Facebook’s filing, Party City Holding turned in an updated S-1 on Jan. 31, with its financial results. As of September 30, 2011, the company’s revenues hit $1.2 billion, a 17.9 percent increase. About 45 percent of the boost was from international sales, which generated $146 million. The company stated in the filing that its acquisitions of the UK-based costume manufacturer Christy’s Group in September 2010 and Riethmüller, a German party goods distributor, which in January 2011, helped the company reach the $1.2 billion revenue mark. The Christy’s Group and Riethmüller brought in sales of $38.9 million and $40.8 million, respectively, in the first nine months of last year. Party City has been on the road to an IPO for almost a year now. It plans to list on the NYSE under the PRTY symbol but has yet to disclose an offering price.
On Feb. 3, Yelp! updated its filing by posting its full-year 2011 financials. The local business review site, which initally filed on Nov. 11 of last year, showed that it generated $83.3 million, an increase of 74.6 percent from $47.7 million in 2010. But the company showed a net loss of $16.7 million. The loss equates to a 74.2 percent decrease of $9.566 million in 2010 and its Ebitda also took a hit showing a loss of $1.1 million.
I’m sure we will continue to see more Facebook IPO stories, especially when the company decides to set a share price. But I will try my best not to ignore the other worthy IPO contenders.
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