Of Unicorn IPOs Looming And Never Were

The news that likely sent shockwaves through unicorn land centered around AppDynamics, which, just days ahead of going public, was bought by Cisco for $3.7 billion.

The bonus was swift and lucrative for private investors, as it represented a doubling over the market cap that the firm was gunning for upon debut on the public markets. The larger question is whether this presages a trend for tech unicorns. The anticipation of an IPO may prove to be just that, as Forbes noted that the trend may be toward strategic acquisition rather than retail investors gaining a piece of the pie.

But attention may be turning swiftly to Snapchat, where the S-1 filed just recently anticipates the biggest tech-related IPO of the year and where the $3 billion offering may in fact (or may not) herald the transition of unicorns to the public realm.

Separately, in what might be looming as a “down round,” eCommerce giant Flipkart may be getting ready to raise capital at a “significantly lower valuation” that had been seen before, as reported by TechCircle. The range may be around $500 million to $800 million raised, at a valuation of $10 billion to $12 billion, which would be leagues below a $15 billion valuation seen in 2015.