US-based wearable products maker Fitbit, which counts telecommunications company SoftBank and mobile semiconductor technology provider Qualcomm as backers, set the range for its initial public offering yesterday between $14 and $16 a share.
Fitbit plans to issue almost 22.4 million shares, which priced at the high end of the IPO range, would raise $358m for the company. Its existing shareholders will issue almost 7.5 million additional shares, which could boost the size of the offering to about $448m.
Founded in 2007, Fitbit manufactures health and fitness trackers, as well as the software and services to go with them. It has sold approximately 20.8 million devices so far, and generated a net income of $132m in 2014, from revenues of $745m.
The company has raised $83m in funding altogether, including $43m from a 2013 series D round in which SoftBank invested $15m.
SoftBank, which owns a 5.6% share of Fitbit, is selling 515,000 of its 10.2 million shares in the offering, which could give it a partial exit of $8.2m. Qualcomm is selling 106,000 of its 3.4 million shares.
Other shareholders in Fitbit, all of which are selling around 5% of their shares in the offering include Foundry Group, which holds a 28.9% stake, True Ventures (22.4%) and Sapphire Ventures, the venture capital firm affiliated with software company SAP (3.7%).
The underwriters for the IPO are Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank Securities, Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Piper Jaffray, Raymond James & Associates, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company and William Blair & Company.
They have the 30-day option to buy almost 4.48 million additional shares, which could lift the size of the IPO to about $549m.