Violin Memory, a US-based maker of data storage equipment backed by Japan-based conglomerate Toshiba, began trading under the symbol “VNEM” on the New York Stock Exchange on 27 September.
The initial public offering (IPO) of 18,000,000 shares was priced at $9 per share, the midpoint of its proposed $8 – $10 range, raising $162m at a valuation of around $736 million.
However, Violin Memory’s shares opened at $7.41 on its first day of trading, and have traded as low as $7 per share on 30 September.
JP.Morgan, Deutsche Bank Securities, EM Securities and BofA Merrill Lynch underwrote the IPO, with Barclays serving as a joint book-running manager.