Forget Facebook, the IPO market is dying, says SecondMarket CEO Barry Silbert
Bankers and brokers nibbled on spinach omelettes, looking out over a sumptuous view of midtown Manhattan, at a private breakfast thrown by Bloomberg Markets on the 29th floor of its Lexington Avenue building. Barry Silbert, the baby faced founder and CEO of SecondMarket, which facilitates trades in private tech companies, took questions from the crowd. VentureBeat was one of only two news outlets at the event.
“Facebook is the elephant in the room, no doubt … Continue Reading
Facebook headed for its monster IPO in May, says report
Social media titan Facebook will likely hold its long-awaited initial public offering in the third week of May, according to a new report by All Things D.
Facebook’s IPO is expected to be one of the largest technology-focused deals ever, with a rumored $10 billion offering on a $100 billion valuation. We’ve heard rumblings of Facebook’s IPO for quite some time, but the noise has gotten louder following the IPOs of Groupon, Zynga and Jive … Continue Reading
Facebook to reach 1B active users in August, that’s 14% of the world
Facebook is soon to have 14 percent of the world’s population all to itself. A new study says the social network will hit one billion users this year.
Gregory Lyons, a senior analyst at digital marketing firm iCrossing, ran the numbers based on Facebook’s past growth and found that Facebook will probably hit the milestone in August 2012. Currently, it has 800,000 users. He found that Facebook initially grew at an exponential rate, but then … Continue Reading
Everything you need to know about Facebook’s potential IPO (infographic)
As a leader in social media, advertising and online influence, it’s surprising that ultra-powerful startup Facebook has managed to remain a privately held company for so long.
However, the high level of success Facebook has reached privately is likely to pay off when it finally files an initial public offering (IPO), which could raise over $10 billion.
The $10 billion IPO, which only three other companies (AT&T, General Motors and Visa) have ever achieved, isn’t … Continue Reading
SEC probed Groupon about Andrew Mason memo prior to IPO
The government questioned Groupon CEO Andrew Mason for his potentially market-conditioning statements, according to documents released by the SEC today.
Soon after filing papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission for Groupon’s initial public offering, Mason got wind of some harsh words about Groupon’s ability to perform. Reacting, Mason sent a letter to his employees explaining Groupon’s potential, beefing up its positive attributes and even including some financial information.
When a company files for an … Continue Reading
Banks battle for $220M share of Facebook IPO
Green may be the color of money, but Wall Street bankers are only seeing blue — Facebook blue, that is.
The social network is poised to file its papers to become a public company in early 2012 — raising $10 billion in the process — and covetous bankers are hoping to hitch a last-minute ride to money town by way of the company’s expected $100 billion market valuation. Rival banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley … Continue Reading
Gogo IPO: Raising $100M for airplane Wi-Fi service
Airplane Wi-Fi service provider Gogo has filled an initial public offering today that will raise an estimated $100 million for the company, according to SEC documents.
Gogo offers an in-flight Wi-Fi service on nine major airlines in North America, including Delta, Virgin America, US Airways and American Airlines. Its service is available on more than 1,100 aircraft (or 85 percent of all Wi-Fi-enabled commercial planes on the continent), with commitments to add service on another … Continue Reading
Workday gears up for IPO, plans to raise up to $500M
Following in the footsteps of Jive Software’s successful IPO, Workday, a company that provides cloud software for business operations, is said to be planning for its own public offering next year.
The company hopes to raise up to $500 million in its IPO, Bloomberg reported yesterday, based on information from two sources. Workday is expected to file its S-1, the first step to going public, in the first half of 2012, and to debut in … Continue Reading
LivingSocial will be bought, and other daily deals predictions for 2012
From delayed IPOs to buyouts and layoffs, 2011 proved to be a volatile year for daily deals companies. In the past 12 months, the industry was defined and legitimized, but had just as many mistakes as successes.
The biggest daily deal flaw in 2011 was that primary pioneers of the product created an unsustainably expensive infrastructure to deliver it. They tried to build new, enormous consumer brands just around deals; they spent too much on … Continue Reading
Why did Zynga’s stock fizzle on day one? Analyst cites red flags
Zynga’s stock sank 5 percent yesterday, from $10 to $9.50, on its first day of trading. Some investors might feel like the stock will bounce back on Monday or in the weeks ahead. But at least one analyst is staying bearish.
New York-based PrivCo, a private market research firm headed by Sam Hamadeh, has been prophetic in its skepticism about Zynga so far. Early this summer, after Zynga filed its papers to go public, PrviCo … Continue Reading
Zynga closes at $9.50 a share, down 5 percent in IPO debut
Zynga’s initial public offering wasn’t as popular as the company hoped, with the stock closing at $9.50 a share, down 5 percent from its offering price of $10 a share.
The weak performance came after a considerable mix of hype and cynicism about the social gaming company, which raised $1 billion at an $8.9 billion valuation with options included. The stock price opened at $11 a share (up 10 percent) and rose at the outset … Continue Reading
Angry Birds, happy company: Rovio talks Hong Kong IPO
Angry Birds, the two year-old blockbuster game and burgeoning franchise, has propelled its Finnish-maker Rovio to super-stardom. Now, the company is mulling the idea of joining the ranks of public companies — in Hong Kong.
Rovio intends to list its stock on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2013, according to Finnish publication Tekniikka & Talous.
“In Asia there are growing markets — the people and the money,” Rovio’s chief marketing officer Peter Vesterbacka told … Continue Reading
Zynga’s stock rises in early trading (and then falls)
Zynga’s stock price rose as high as 15 percent in early trading on Nasdaq as the company went public at $10 a share.
[Update: at 12:10 pm Eastern time, Zynga's stock has fallen to $9.88 a share]
Raising at least $1 billion, Zynga’s debut on the stock market is the biggest tech IPO in the U.S. since Google went public in 2004 and the biggest IPO in the history of the game industry. … Continue Reading
Zynga will be more valuable than Electronic Arts: $8.9B vs $6.9B
When Zynga goes public at the opening bell tomorrow at $10 a share, it will be more valuable than video game giant Electronic Arts.
Zynga’s $10 a share opening price gives it a valuation (with options included) of $8.9 billion, compared to $6.93 billion for EA’s value. That’s a pretty stunning fact, as Zynga was founded in 2007 and EA was formed at the dawn of the video game industry in 1982. EA generates about … Continue Reading
Glam Media may be checking out banks for a 2012 IPO
Female-focused media and advertising company Glam Media may soon file to go public.
If so, it will join the ranks of Internet companies hitting the trading floor, such as Jive, Zynga and (earlier this year) LinkedIn.
According to Bloomberg‘s sources, the company has already had a “bake off,” in which banks compete to underwrite the Glam Media initial public offering. In the running are Bank of America, Goldman Sachs Group, and Morgan Stanley to lead … Continue Reading
Wall Street analysts calculate whether Zynga is worth $8.9B
Zynga is about to begin trading as a public company on Thursday, but the value of the company is up for debate, based on reports from some well-known Wall Street analysts and other financial experts.
The San Francisco-based social gaming company is planning to raise about $850 million to $1.15 billion at a price of $8.50 to $10 a share, giving the company an expected valuation of $7.6 billion to $8.9 billion. Zynga, whose history … Continue Reading
Nexon shares fall in first day of trading: not good for Zynga
Online game company Nexon saw its shares fall in its first day of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange following its $1.2 billion initial public offering.
The deal was Japan’s biggest IPO this year and it doesn’t augur well for Zynga, which plans to start trading shares on Thursday.
Nexon sold more than 70 million shares. It closed at 1,270 yen, or $16.31 a share, compared with its opening price of 1,300 yen, or $16.70 … Continue Reading
Online gaming giant Nexon raises $1.2B in Toyko IPO (updated)
It’s good to be a gamer, and not so bad to be a game publisher either.
Online-gaming firm Nexon went public today on the Japanese stock market, raising $1.2 billion in a move that will call a lot of attention to the virtual goods and online gaming markets.
Nexon’s online gaming business has grown fast in Asia over the past decade, and it has become a worldwide success built on the free-to-play business model, where … Continue Reading
Jive stock up nearly 30 percent at close of its first trading day
Jive Software kicked off its initial public offering at $12 a share on the Nasdaq this morning, and closed nearly 30 percent up at $15.05.
The company produces social business software, which enterprises use as an internal communication system outside of the traditional e-mail and instant message options. Competitors of Jive include startups Yammer and Moxie, plus Salesforce’s Chatter. Jive filed to go public in August of this year and offered 13.4 million shares, raking … Continue Reading
How Zynga grew from gaming outcast to $9 billion social game powerhouse
Update: This article is now available as a 63-page e-book on Amazon’s Kindle bookstore.
Zynga has turned the video game world upside down in its short five-year history. As it’s poised on the verge of a massive initial public offering, the social game startup is now one of gaming’s great success stories.
But its success was never a foregone conclusion. In fact, most game industry veterans didn’t view it as a real game company. Mark … Continue Reading
