Consumer Electronics
GoPro’s IPO: It Is Not Just a Camera Company!
Published:
Last Updated:
At the IPO price, GoPro raised about $427 million at a valuation of about $2.96 billion. Half the 17.8 million shares were sold by the company and half by selling shareholders. Underwriters, including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Barclays have a 30-day option on an additional 2.67 million shares.
The company will have both Class A and Class B shares with Class B shares entitled to 10 votes per share and Class A shares 1 vote per share. Holders of Class B shares will hold more than 98% of the voting power and nearly 73% of the Class B shares will be held by executive officers and directors. The CEO will hold 47.7% of the voting power in the company.
GoPro’s revenue jumped from $526 million in 2012 to $986 million in 2013, but profit margins narrowed last year and R&D costs doubled. Camera owners have been posting videos to YouTube where more than 500 million viewers have seen a GoPro-created video. The company plans to try to monetize these videos by collecting fees through partnerships with the Xbox One, YouTube, and Virgin America.
Shares closed at $31.34, up about 30.6% on the stock’s first day of trading.
ALSO READ: BMW Adds GoPro Video Camera to Cars
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.