Shares of SoftBank Group Corp-backed Compass Inc jumped 18% in their stock market debut on Thursday, giving the real estate brokerage firm a market value of $8.22 billion, after being priced at the lower end of the reduced initial public offering (IPO) price range. Stock opened at $21.25, above the IPO price of $18 per share.
The company, which downsized its IPO and reduced its price target range, sold 25 million shares on Wednesday, raising about $450 million. It was earlier looking to raise about $936 million by selling 36 million shares at the upper end of its initial price range of $23 to $26 per share. Compass debuts at a time of historic boom in U.S. capital markets, with companies raising $167 billion in 2020, according to data from Dealogic, a record that investment bankers expect will be surpassed this year.
Founded in 2012 by former Twitter Inc engineer Ori Allon and former Goldman Sachs executive Robert Reffkin, New York City-based Compass runs an integrated software platform that serves real estate agents in the residential market. It recorded about $152 million in transactions in residential real estate last year, a recent regulatory filing showed, which represents nearly 4% of the U.S. market.
Compass saw a surge in online home transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic, with revenue jumping 56% to $3.7 billion in 2020. The company had raised $1.5 billion from investors, including Goldman Sachs and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, before its IPO. It was valued at $6.4 billion after a $370 million funding round in 2019.
Source: Reuters
Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi
Can't stop reading? This and all news articles are property of their creators, many are not owned or provided by Private Equity Insider. As an event organizer and community platform, we curate content from reliable sources for your suggested reading, and advise you to read the full articles from the referenced authors and sources.