AAA Roku rocks IPO up to $253m

Roku rocks IPO up to $253m

US-based television streaming service Roku closed an initial public offering that granted exits to several media companies at $253m yesterday after the underwriters took up the full over-allotment option.

Roku sells set-top boxes that allow subscribers to stream televisual content from a range of TV and online sources. It had more than 15 million active subscribers as of June 2017 and made a net loss of $42.8m from $399m in revenue in 2016.

The company initially raised $219m in the IPO last week, issuing approximately 6.7 million shares priced at the top of its $12 to $14 range.

Underwriters Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Global Markets, Allen & Company, RBC Capital Markets, Needham & Company, Oppenheimer & Co and William Blair & Company acquired another 2.35 million shares after Roku’s stock shot up on its first day of trading. It is trading at $23.56 at time of publication.

Roku had previously raised about $255m from investors including media company Sky’s corporate venturing unit, Sky Ventures, which held a 3.9% stake pre-IPO, and which sold approximately $9.4m of shares in the offering.

Media groups 21st Century Fox, News Corp and Viacom are also investors in Roku, as are financial services group Fidelity, Menlo Ventures, Globespan Capital and, reportedly, online streaming service Netflix.

– Image courtesy of Roku, Inc.

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