Pivotal Software, the US-based software development services provider backed by several corporates, set the terms for an initial public offering yesterday that will raise $530m at the top of its range.
The company will issue just over 33 million shares priced between $14 and $16 a share. General Electric (GE), the industrial equipment and appliance producer that has invested a total of $152m in Pivotal, will sell almost 3.9 million shares, equating to 20% of its stake, and could raise up to $62m.
Spun out in 2013 by EMC, the virtualisation software producer acquired by computing technology provider Dell three years later, Pivotal combines a cloud-native platform, development tools and expertise to help corporate clients create their own software.
Pivotal has 319 corporate subscribers that are jointly responsible for $259m in annual subscription revenue. It generated a total of $509m in revenue in the year leading up to the start of February 2018 but made a net loss of more than $163m over the same period.
GE paid $104m for a 10% stake in Pivotal when it was established as a separate company in 2013 and provided a further $45.8m for a $653m round in 2016 that valued the company at $2.8bn.
Automotive manufacturer Ford invested $182m in the 2016 round while EMC subsidiary VMware supplied $20m. Converted debt from Dell EMC made up $400m of the amount.
Dell EMC owns just over 175 million shares in Pivotal while private equity firm Silver Lake Partners holds 131 million, VMware 44.2 million, GE 19.4 million and Ford 17.5 million.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are lead book-running managers for the IPO, which is slated to take place on the New York Stock Exchange.
BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Credit Suisse, RBC Capital Markets, UBS Investment Bank and Wells Fargo Securities are book-running managers while KeyBanc Capital Markets, William Blair, Mischler Financial Group, Ramirez & Co, Siebert Cisneros Shank and Williams Capital Group are co-managers.