UiPath, a US-based robotic process automation (RPA) technology provider backed by internet group Tencent and internet technology conglomerate Alphabet, is floating today in an initial public offering sized at approximately $1.34bn.
The company is issuing just over 9.4 million shares priced at $56.00 each while shareholders are selling almost 14.5 million additional shares. The price was above a $52 to $54 range which had already been increased from $43 to $50.
Alphabet’s growth equity arm, CapitalG, is among the selling shareholders and will divest $85.5m of shares in the offering.
Founded in Romania in 2005, UiPath provides RPA technology it supplies to nearly 8,000 customers, allowing them to automate certain repetitive tasks. It reduced its net loss from $520m to $92.4m in 2020 while increasing revenue from $336m to almost $608m.
The offering follows about $2.05bn in equity funding, the most recent of which was a $750m series F round last month co-led by Alkeon Capital Management and Coatue and backed by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, IVP, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management and funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price at a $35bn valuation.
Alkeon Capital led a $225m series E round for UiPath in July 2020, investing alongside Tencent, Coatue, Dragoneer, Sequoia, Tiger Global, IVP, Accel, Madrona Venture Group, Wellington Management and funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price, valuing it at $10.2bn.
UiPath had raised $568m in a mid-2019 series D round led by Coatue and backed by CapitalG, which put up $25m, Accel, Sequoia, IVP, Madrona Venture Group, Dragoneer, Wellington Management, Sands Capital and funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price at a $7bn valuation.
CapitalG and Sequoia co-led the company’s $265m series C round, which closed in November 2018. It also featured Accel, IVP, Madrona Venture Group and Meritech Capital.
Accel had led Uipath’s $153m series B round eight months earlier, investing together with CapitalG, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Credo Ventures, Earlybird’s Digital East Fund and Seedcamp at a $1.1bn valuation. The last three, like Accel, were existing backers.
CapitalG will hold 6.9 million of UiPath’s class A shares post-IPO, down from 7.5%. Accel is selling $298m of shares and will come out with 24.1% of its class A shares, while Earlybird is divesting $118m and will own 9.5% of them post-IPO.
Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan are lead bookrunners for the offering, which will take place the New York Stock Exchange, while BofA Securities, Credit Suisse, Barclays and Wells Fargo Securities are bookrunners.
SMBC Nikko, BMO Capital Markets, Mizuho Securities, KeyBanc Capital Markets, TD Securities, Truist Securities, Cowen, Evercore ISI, Macquarie Capital, Nomura and RBC Capital Markets are passive bookrunners while Canaccord Genuity, DA Davidson, Oppenheimer and Needham & Company are co-managers.
The underwriters have 30 days to purchase more than 3.58 million more shares if they choose, potentially boosting the size of the IPO to nearly $1.54bn.
