US-based endpoint protection software provider CrowdStrike filed for an initial public offering yesterday that would enable internet technology group Alphabet, telecommunications firm Telstra and cloud services provider RackSpace to exit.
The company plans to float on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and has set a placeholder figure of $100m as a target. It was reportedly valued at more than $3bn when it last raised money in 2018.
CrowdStrike’s cloud-based Falcon platform provides protection for organisations that detects and responds to cyber threats at the endpoint. It more than doubled revenue to $219m in 2018, though its net loss increased slightly from approximately $135m to $140m.
The offering will follow more than $480m of funding, CrowdStrike having received $200m in series E funding last June from Alphabet unit CapitalG as well as General Atlantic, Accel and IVP, which co-led the round, and March Capital Partners.
The round was closed at $207m in September according to the filing. CapitalG (then known as Google Capital) first invested in the company in 2015, leading a $100m series C round featuring existing backers Accel and Warburg Pincus.
CrowdStrike subsequently closed a series D round in late 2017 that was sized at approximately $131m according to the filing, and which included CapitalG, Telstra, Accel, Warburg Pincus and March Capital.
Warburg Pincus is the company’s largest shareholder and owns 30.3% of its shares according to the IPO filing, followed by Accel (20.3%) and CapitalG (11.2%).
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch and Barclays have been appointed lead book-running managers for the offering.
Credit Suisse, Jefferies, RBC Capital Markets, Stifel, HSBC, Macquarie Capital, Piper Jaffray and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey are book-running managers for the IPO. BTIG, JMP Securities, Mizuho Securities, Needham & Company and Oppenheimer are co-managers.
