Etsy Logo (Photo : Facebook)
Etsy IPO Puts Company Value at $ 1.8 billion and at $16 per share
Etsy made an initial public debut on April 15, Wednesday. With a valuation of $1.8 billion, the company raised $267 million in the IPO.
Etsy was founded by a carpenter to sell wooden computers. Now, it is a beloved platform of vintage and handmade goods.
The Etsy shares were priced at $16 per share at the high end of its range. Total number of sold shares stood at 16.7 million.
Following its value principle, the IPO was aimed at large swaths of smaller investors and was restricted to limited availability to large investors, according to Wall Street Journal.
About 85 percent of its shares are to be sold to institutional investors, 15% to smaller investors. The institutional investors include mutual and hedge funds.
The IPO is the only one for a B Corporation, an honor given to businesses that maintains social and environmental standards. Etsy is, therefore, the first B Corp. to go for an IPO too.
The proceeds are going to be used in the business, but $300,000 will be used to fund Etsy.org, a non-profit for women and minorities that teaches them to have their own businesses.
Etsy was founded in 2005 by Rob Kalin, a carpenter who made handmade wooden computers but could not find a marketplace to sell them. He left the company in 2011.
The chief executive officer of the company, Chad Dickerson, is a former Yahoo! honcho.
The IPO resulted in Accel Partners owning 22.4 percent of Etsy. Prominent others, such as Union Square, Index Ventures and CEO Dickerson will hold 12.6, 10.6 and 1.9 percent respectively, Bloomberg Business reported.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Allen & Co. operated the IPO process.
The Etsy shares will trade under ticker ETSY on Nasdaq, starting Thursday next.
