Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Report: Carbonite expected to price IPO today

By Kyle Alspach, Boston Business Journal

Carbonite Inc. is expected to price its initial public offering today, according to a report, despite the major volatility in the stock market in recent days.

The Boston-based company is looking to raise up to $122.2 million in the offering and trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker, CARB.

Originally, a dozen IPOs had been scheduled for this week; five have since been delayed or canceled as the stock market plunged on Monday and then saw more volatility on Tuesday, according to IPO tracker Renaissance Capital.

Carbonite had initially planned to price its IPO on Tuesday night, but opted to delay the pricing until Wednesday, according to a report by Thomson Reuters’ International Financing Review.

Renaissance Capital wrote earlier this week that Carbonite could likely “escape the carnage” in the stock market and complete its IPO, due to its status as a proven tech company positioned in a growing market. Carbonite provides a web-based backup service for home computers and small businesses, charging customers $59 a year to backup their computer files.

Founded in 2005 by David Friend and Jeff Flowers, Carbonite generated revenue of $38.6 million in 2010 and $27.2 million during the first six months of this year. The company has been losing money – about $10 million in the first half of 2011 – as it spends heavily on advertising to add new subscribers. However, Carbonite’s IPO prospectus notes it has a customer base of more than 1 million users in 100 countries.

Venture-backed Carbonite has taken in more than $70 million from backers including Menlo Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif., Performance Equity of Stamford, Conn., and Crosslink Capital of San Francisco.

Menlo Ventures is the company’s largest institutional shareholder: According to the company’s IPO prospectus, the firm holds 31.6 percent of shares. Performance Equity and Crosslink each hold nearly 6 percent.

Joint book-running managers for Carbonite’s IPO are BofA Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. In addition, William Blair & Co. LLC, Canaccord Genuity Inc., Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and Pacific Crest Securities Inc. are acting as co-managers.