Data Storage Firm Box Files To Raise $250 Mln In IPO

(RTTNews) - Enterprise cloud storage provider Box Inc. said Monday that it has filed to raise up to $250 million in an initial public offering, as the company grapples with growing competition in the online storage market.

The Los Altos, California-based company said it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The company has not yet determined the number of shares to be sold or the price range for the proposed offering.

Box intends to list its Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "BOX". The company plans to utilize net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses and capital expenditures.

Box said it was an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act or JOBS Act that was enacted in April 2012 with the intention of encouraging capital formation in the U.S. and reducing the regulatory burden on newly public companies that qualify as "emerging growth companies."

As of January 31, 2014, Box had 25 million registered users and supported over 225,000 organizations that collectively interact with their content over 2.5 billion times every three months. The company's customers include more than 34,000 paying organizations globally, and its largest deployment to date is over 60,000 users.

Box's net loss for the year ended January 31, 2014 widened to $168.90 million from $112.79 million in the prior year. However, revenue more than doubled to $124.19 million from $58.80 million last year, substantially driven by an increase in subscription services.

The increase in subscription services was due to the addition of new customers, as the number of paying organizations increased by 44 percent from the prior year.

For the six months ended January 31, 2014, revenue from non-U.S. customers represented 20 percent of the company's revenue. The company expects its revenue from non-U.S. customers to increase at a higher rate than revenue from U.S. customers in the future.

Box's biggest shareholder is the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, which owns about 25.5 percent of the company's equity. It is followed by U.S. Venture Partners IX, L.P. with a 13 percent stake. General Atlantic holds a stake of about 8.4 percent.

The company's chief executive officer Aaron Levie, holds a 4.1 percent stake in the company, while CFO Dylan Smith owns a 2 percent stake. The company was founded in 2005 by Levie and Smith.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC will act as joint book-running managers for the offering. BMO Capital Markets Corp. will act as lead manager, and Canaccord Genuity Inc., Pacific Crest Securities LLC, Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC will act as co-managers.