GoPro Inc. filed paperwork this week with the Securities & Exchange Commission for a $100 million initial public offering.he IPO is being underwritten by Piper Jaffray & Co. and will be sold through a syndicate of banks including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Barclays, according to an S1 the company filed late Monday.
The filling reports GoPro earned net income of $60.6 million on sales of $985.7 million in 2013, up 87.4 and 87.6 percent respectively from 2012. The company’s stock would be listed on the NASDAQ and trade under the symbol GPRO.
The company expects to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, and to fully repay its term loan under a credit facility, which had an outstanding balance of $111.0 million as of March 31, 2014. It may also use a portion of the net proceeds to acquire or invest in complementary businesses, technologies or assets.
Since launching its first high-definition, or HD, capture device in July 2009, GoPro has sold more than 8.5 million HD cameras, including more than 3.8 million in 2013, according to the filing. Its video cameras are now sold in more than 100 countries and through more than 25,000 retail stores and it supplied the #1 selling camcorder (by dollars and units) in the United States in 2013. The company’s Hero cameras represented a 45 share of the U.S. camcorder market (by dollars) in 2013, up from an 11% share during December 2011, according to the filing.
“Since our first sale in 2004, our distribution strategy has focused on specialty retailers, including surf, ski and motorsports outlets, where we believe GoPro is often the only capture device sold in-store,” reads the filing. “Our early, first-mover relationships with these retailers and their customers helped us establish an authenticity that remains a cornerstone of our business. This focus on the specialty retail channel has also enabled us to develop a high-touch, differentiated sales network of more than 25,000 stores globally that we believe is difficult to replicate.”
