ForeScout Technologies pops 16% in first day of trading
ForeScout Technologies saw its shares spike 16 percent during intraday trading after going public on Friday. After pricing at the top of the range at $22 per share, the stock was hovering above $25 midday.
The Internet of Things security company also increased the size of its IPO and raised about $116 million after selling 5.3 million shares.
ForeScout helps businesses and government agencies monitor the devices connected to their networks. It can help with all internet-connected devices, ranging from smart TVs to voice assistants like Alexa. It also works with machines at hospitals and airports, many of which are customers.
ForeScout CEO Michael DeCesare told TechCrunch that ForeScout aims to “give organizations visibility into everything that’s on their network.” He said that ForeScout has been benefiting from the increasing number of connected devices. “It’s really only been the last few years that organizations have really started en masse to bring other use cases and devices on their networks.”
ForeScout had $167 million in sales last year, compared to $126 million for 2015. Losses grew to $75 million last year, up from $27 million in 2015.
“We are on a path towards profitability,” said DeCesare.
Competitors include large networking vendors like Cisco and HP Enterprise. DeCesare claims “the competitive differentiation of our product is very strong.”
Amadeus Capital had the largest ownership stake at 19.6 percent, leading up to the IPO. Accel owned 15.2 percent, Pitango 14 percent and Meritech Capital Partners 13.4 percent. The company raised at least $125 million, dating back to 2000.
Theresia Gouw, co-founder of Aspect Ventures, said she invested because she “saw the value of ForeScout’s agent-less approach to cybersecurity from the very start.” She added that “with the billions of IoT connected devices being added to the IT networks, ForeScout provides unparalleled visibility to see where security is needed.”
This is what’s become known as a “down round IPO.” Some investors had built-in protections and it looks like Wellington will be granted additional shares to make up for an IPO priced at a lower price than where it invested.
When asked about this, DeCesare said, “I hardly pay attention to it and neither do our investors.”
Early this year, we broke the news that ForeScout had filed confidentially. The company took advantage of a JOBS Act provision that allows businesses to submit filing updates without added scrutiny in the months leading up to an IPO.
The company is listing on the Nasdaq under the ticker “FSCT.” Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan are managing it. Wilson Sonsini and Goodwin Procter were the legal teams on the IPO.