Emeryville, CA - MobiTV Plans $75 Million IPO to Raise Funds for Mobile-Television Service
MobiTV Inc.,(www.mobitv.com) the maker of software that lets smartphone users watch live television, filed to raise as much as $75 million in an initial public offering of stock.
The company didn’t say how many shares it will sell or at what price in its filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
At least five companies have announced plans for IPOs in the U.S. in the past week after filings were shelved at a record pace earlier this month as stock markets worldwide plunged. Angie’s List Inc., operator of a consumer-review website, and Jive Software Inc., the maker of social-networking software for businesses, disclosed plans for share sales last week.
Founded in 2000 by Paul Scanlan, Phillip Alvelda and Jeff Annison, MobiTV has accelerated its growth in the past two years as consumers have flocked to Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone and Google Inc.’s Android devices. Revenue at the Emeryville, California- based company rose 17 percent in this year’s first half to $37 million from a year earlier, and its net loss narrowed to $8.08 million from $9.36 million.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) are managing the IPO, with assistance from Robert W. Baird & Co., William Blair & Co. and Pacific Crest Securities. MobiTV’s biggest investor is Gefinor Ventures, which owns 23.1 percent of the company. Oak Investment Partners holds 20.1 percent, followed by Menlo Ventures and Redpoint Ventures at 13.3 percent each, according to the filing.
The company said it plans to trade under the symbol MBTV, without saying what exchange the shares would be listed on.
Streaming Software
MobiTV has developed software that delivers sports, TV shows and news to more than 375 different kinds of devices. The company licenses content from television studios, including CBS Corp. (CBS), News Corp.’s Fox, and Walt Disney Co. (DIS)’s ABC, Disney and ESPN. The number of mobile minutes streamed rose to 1.4 billion last year from 264 million in 2007, according to the filing.
The company relies upon three customers -- AT&T Inc. (T), Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. -- for most of its revenue. AT&T and T-Mobile together accounted for 42 percent of sales in this year’s first half. AT&T has proposed a $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile, which faces an antitrust challenge by the U.S. government.
MobiTV also has high expenses because of costs to build out and maintain a network. Operating expenses were $44.8 million in the first two quarters, and total net losses for the past three years were $54.5 million, the company said in its filing.