Professional networking company LinkedIn Corporation has filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined, according to a media release issued by the company.
The bookrunning managers of the offering are Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan Securities. Allen & Company and UBS Securities will be acting as co-managers. The company plans to issue Class A Common Stock, at $0.0001 par value per share, at a proposed maximum aggregate offering price of $175 million, according to the Form S-1 registration statement filed by LinkedIn.
A portion of the shares will be issued and sold by LinkedIn, and a portion will be sold by certain stockholders of LinkedIn, the release adds, though it does not say specify the number of the shares.
Filing registration papers with the SEC is the first step to the IPO process in the United States. The approximate date of the IPO will be as soon as practicable after the registration papers become effective.
LinkedIn investors currently include Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, European Founders Fund, Goldman Sachs, McGraw-Hill companies, and SAP Ventures, among others (Sorry, Digital Sky Technologies is not an investor yet). The company recently appointed Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital to its board.
A quick look at the company’s financials as filed with the SEC reveal that in the nine months ended September 30, 2010, LinkedIn’s net revenue increased $80.6 million, or 100%, and adjusted EBITDA increased $22.3 million, or 238%, over the nine months ended September 30, 2009.
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 90 million members in over 200 countries and territories, the company says in the filings.