Cloud software developer Twilio expects to raise about $150 million in its initial public offering.
The San Francisco-based firm announced on June 22 the pricing of its IPO. It said that its public offering of 10,000,000 shares of Class A common stock is priced at $15 per share, after offering them for $12 through $14 each. There is also an option for up to 1.5 million additional shares of Class A common stock to be purchased.
This would then value the firm at about $1.23 billion.
Twilio's press release says that shares will begin trading June 23 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company will trade under the ticker symbol TWLO.
"Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the proposed offering," reads the press release. "Allen & Company LLC, Pacific Crest Securities, a division of KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., JMP Securities LLC, William Blair & Company, L.L.C., and Canaccord Genuity Inc. are acting as co-managers."
Active Customers
Based on the company filings, Twilio had more than 28,000 active consumers at the end of March. The list of its active clients include rideshare firm Uber Technologies Inc., department store chain Nordstrom Inc. and enterprise-software company Box Inc.
While the company’s revenue grew to $89 million in 2014, it, however, reported a net loss of $27 million during that year. In 2015, its revenue jumped to $167 million while its net loss was $36 million.
Bloomberg reports that based on the prospectus, Twilio intends to use the proceeds in investing in engineering, marketing and sales plus to beef up its technology platform.
Selling Software
For the uninitiated, the company makes money by selling its developed software to different companies. These firms use Twilio's platform in communicating with their customers in anonymized fashion.
Uber, for instance, is using the software to facilitate conversations between riders and drivers without the need to reveal phone numbers. Nordstrom also uses the technology to talk with their consumers who are waiting for the arrival of their purchased items. OpenTable, in the meantime, makes use of Twilio’s tech to send out reservation notifications.
David Rudow, Thrivent Asset Management’s senior equity research analyst tells The Wall Street Journal that Twilio’s product has indeed “revolutionized how apps can be built and revolutionized how apps can be used.”
Established in 2008, the company has more than 500 employees under its umbrella. Apart from its headquarters in San Francisco, it also has offices in various parts of the globe, including Munich, Mountain View, Bogota, Hong Kong, Dublin, Singapore, Tallinn and New York.
