ipo
Latest
Virgin Mobile's IPO nets $412.5M, not quite what it hoped for
It seems the $467.5 million Virgin thought it could muster in its IPO filing was a little optimistic -- though it still fared far better than it thought it would a few months back. Shares of Virgin Mobile started trading today on the New York Stock Exchange at $15 a share; multiply that by 27.5 million and you arrive at a healthy $412.5 million in proceeds. Most of the money is earmarked to repay debts and to buy back 16.7 percent of Sprint's ownership, making the relatively successful prepaid MVNO a more independent entity. No word yet on whether it can spare a few dimes to research bringing higher-tech handsets to its lineup, unfortunately (bear in mind this is the carrier that just discovered Bluetooth a few months back).[Via mocoNews]
Virgin Mobile finally files for IPO, looking for $467.5M
It may not be quite the $506 million it was looking for a few months ago, but $467.5 million still seems like a princely take for a young MVNO that had expected a mere $100 million when it initially announced plans to file for an IPO early this year. The initial public offering for 27.5 million shares of "VM" has finally been filed, with Virgin Mobile looking to pocket $15 to $17 per share. Revenues from the sale will go toward paying back debt and "general purposes," which we're guessing -- nay, hoping -- equates to reinvestment in the company's offerings (bear in mind that this is the same Virgin Mobile that started offering its first Bluetooth enabled handset just a few weeks back). The move will reduce ownership by both of the company's corporate parents; Sprint's stake falls from 47 percent to 17.2 percent, while Virgin Group drops from 47 percent to 35.7 percent. It's been stated that Virgin Group won't see any cash from the IPO, so we're guessing Sprint will considering its far lower post-IPO share. Cha-ching! [Via Phone Scoop]
Sony to raise $2.9B for electronics and gaming divisions
War ain't cheap, kids -- just take it from Sony, which is currently duking it out on both the PS3 and Blu-ray fronts. According to Bloomberg, the company is organizing a ¥332B ($2.9B) IPO of its insurance unit, and plans to funnel the cash back into its electronics and gaming divisions, which have been doing well, but not exactly blowing the competition out of the water. Pretty stuffed-shirt news, to be sure, but we're certain the Sony fanboys in the house can spin this into something bigger -- 3D Blu-ray license, perhaps?
Sony financial IPO may subsidize PS3 cost
Sony will sell about $2.9 billion worth of shares in a new IPO for its insurance unit, Japan's biggest IPO this year. 34.5 percent of Sony Financial Holding Inc. will go on sale in the Tokyo Stock Exchange on October 11th. It's expected that the money generated from the IPO will raise funds for the consumer electronics and games divisions."Sony could use the funds for various options to strengthen its electronics and game businesses,'' said Mitsuhiro Osawa, a Tokyo-based analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. "A cut in the price of the PlayStation 3 is one option,'' said Osawa.Analysts are predicting that another PS3 price cut may happen in the coming months. Certainly, the gain of nearly $3 billion in funds will certainly help subsidizing any losses that Sony would incur from such a move.[Via GI.biz]
Sony raising money for PlayStation division with insurance unit IPO
Narrowly voting down a bake sale, Sony execs have elected to sell off shares of the company's insurance unit to raise funds for the struggling games division. The sale of roughly $2.9 billion of shares (34.5% of Sony Financial Holdings Inc.) will be Japan's largest IPO this year and some of the proceeds will be channeled to the PlayStation unit; and some will benefit the production of Bravia televisions.As PlayStation 3 continues to lag behind Wii in sales, a renewed price drop seems obvious, but would also mean greater short-term losses for the games division. Money from the insurance unit IPO could help balance that loss, but the IPO faces its own challenge as investors are still shaken from losses in the subprime mortgage market. But would they have said "no" to a pile of gooey cupcakes and fudge-packed brownies? We'll never know.
Virgin Mobile aims for $506 million in IPO
Lying in sharp contrast to Amp'd's less-than-stellar fortunes, Virgin Mobile USA -- a joint venture of Virgin and Sprint operated very differently from its European cousin -- is actually hoping to do even better than originally expected. The MVNO had said in May that it hoped to raise up to $100 million through an initial public offering of shares (stock symbol "VM" in case you're curious), but that figure has now skyrocketed up to a rather shocking figure of $508 million. Virgin Mobile hopes to use the cash to pay off a handful of debts it accrued in the process of getting its business off the ground, something Amp'd hasn't quite managed to do just yet.
