In the first technology IPO of the year, SME security firm SecureWorks raised $112 million.
The public debut of the company on Thursday (April 21) landed less than what the company had initially hoped for, according to reports on Friday. SecureWorks, owned by Dell Inc., priced 8 million shares at $14; unnamed sources said the firm had been eyeing a price closer towards $17.50 for 9 million shares.
An array of factors, especially market volatility, led investors to be more conservative, reports said. Investors’ concerns are made even more apparent considering, this time last year, there had already been six technology IPOs, raising a combined $1.6 billion, reports said.
Still, according to reports, SecureWorks’ float is likely to pave the way for more technology IPOs this year. Other security companies planning IPOs include Optiv Security and Blue Coat Systems. Still, some technology firms have reportedly decided to delay their floats until market conditions settle.
Dell acquired SecureWorks in 2011 and is currently in the middle of securing approval for its purchase of EMC. The announcement of that takeover last October shook the technology industry and set records with its $67 billion price tag.
The sluggish tech IPO environment can also be attributed to massive valuations for many of these corporations, analysts said. Last year, companies like Dropbox earned multi-billion dollar valuations yet are unlikely to actually pull in those figures come IPO day.
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