How Soon Before LifeLock Files for an IPO? (KIPO, GS, SYMC)

LifeLock, Inc., is one of those companies that has a broad appeal to the public. It helps protect consumers against identity theft and credit fraud, and it is able to do so on a subscriber fee basis, of course. We have had it on the radar for a possible initial public offering candidate for some time and now we are more certain than ever that this IPO status likely will be a WHEN rather than IF.

This week came news that Keating Capital, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIPO) has made a $5 million investment in the Series E Convertible Preferred Stock round of LifeLock. As it turns out, this outfit’s total capital raise in this round was about $100 million in new venture funding. For Keating to participate, it generally means that it expects that the investment target company will seek an initial public offering over the coming two years or so. Keating touts itself as a pre-IPO fund and has made many pre-IPO investments.

It was noted that in the LifeLock investment that existing investors participated include Bessemer Venture Partners, affiliates of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC).

Also noted this week was that LifeLock made an acquisition of an outfit called ID Analytics from a group of venture capital firms.

We can now officially put the LifeLock IPO status in the “likely” category rather than the “possibly” category. We will be looking for an S-1 filing from the company at some point in the not-too distant future, if market conditions allow it.

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JON C. OGG