Rosetta Stone to Be First VC-Based IPO in Six Months

Rosetta Stone, the well-regarded language instruction company plans to file an initial public offering this month, the first VC-based IPO in about six months, according to a report in the Washington Post.

The company plans to offer 6.25 million shares of common stock, priced between $15 and $17 per share and could raise as much as $106 million.

The company’s growth plans include new online services, as well as an overseas expansion. It said it also hopes to sell industry-specific language training to corporate clients.

According to its SEC filing, the company reported a profit of $13.9 million in 2008, up from $2.3 million the year before. Revenue was also up last year at $209.4 million, compared to $137.3 million in 2007.

Comments

[Byronm:]

What is "VC-based"? Please enlighten this ignorant reader.

Apr 03 08:59 AM

[perremon:]

VC - Venture Capitol. Was pretty much killed by the tech bubble bust. It typically costs many times earnings or even multiples of a companies total value to take an IPO into the public domain. This is done in the hope of phenominal growth by growing a small company into a major company. In this case making Rosetta Stone an international company. VC nearly vanished after temultous dot-com losses in the last decade. Also called angel investors.

Apr 03 10:40 AM

[BillyTheKid:]

Rosetta is not VC-backed. It was an established business that was bought out in 2006 by "private equity" firms, who basically injected the company with growth capital to get it where it is today. Its lead investor, ABS Capital Partners, is a self-described later-stage growth investor. VC-backed companies, in contrast, are typically companies that secure initial funding to get their business off the ground (i.e. VCs make early stage investments).

Apr 03 11:35 AM

[jstratt:]

I hope this means I wont have to listen to their commercials on CNBC anymore. I couldnt figure out why they were running huge quantities of commercials on CNBC over the past 4 months.

... then the answer emerges

Apr 05 08:59 PM

[Burt:]

If you think VCs and angel investors are one in the same you have a lot to learn.


On Apr 03 10:40 AM perremon wrote:

> VC - Venture Capitol. Was pretty much killed by the tech bubble bust.
> It typically costs many times earnings or even multiples of a companies
> total value to take an IPO into the public domain. This is done in
> the hope of phenominal growth by growing a small company into a major
> company. In this case making Rosetta Stone an international company.
> VC nearly vanished after temultous dot-com losses in the last decade.
> Also called angel investors.

Apr 06 03:32 PM