Sonim Technologies, the US-based rugged mobile phone maker backed by communications equipment supplier Motorola Solutions and electronics producer JVC Kenwood, has raised $39.6m in its initial public offering.
The company priced more than 3.6 million shares at $11 each on the Nasdaq Global Market, below the IPO’s range of $13 to $15, valuing it at about $220m. It floated on Friday and its shares have held steady, closing at $11.03 yesterday.
Sonim provides ultra-rugged mobile devices, industrial-grade accessories and cloud-based software for customers in industries such as logistics and facility management, construction, hospitality, manufacturing, transportation, energy and utilities.
The company’s products include smartphones, headsets, speakers, phone cases and vehicle mounts that are built for hazardous, emergency and mission-critical situations. Proceeds from the IPO will fund sales and marketing and research and development activities.
The company received more than $117m in equity and debt financing prior to the offering, according to regulatory filings and press releases.
Motorola Solutions invested $10m in the company in 2016 according to the IPO filing, while JVC Kenwood added another $10m the following year. Motorola Solutions’ stake was reduced from 8.3% to 7.3% in the offering, and JVC Kenwood’s is down to 6.2% from 7.8%.
Sonim’s largest shareholder is hedge fund sponsor Nokomis Capital (18.5% post-IPO) Financial services provider B. Riley Financial holds 15.7%, Verdoso 7.4% and Investec Investments 7.1%. Its other investors include SIAR Capital, Apax Partners, 3i Group, Accel and BV Capital.
Oppenheimer and Lake Street Capital Markets are lead managers for the IPO while National Securities Corporation is co-manager. They have a 30-day option to buy more than 530,000 additional shares which would increase the size of the offering to $45.5m.