GoPro Files for $100 Million Initial Public Offering

 

 

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's largest shareholders are Founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman and his Wife Jill Woodman and a trust they control, which own 55.1 million shares, or 48.8 percent of the company. The next largest shareholder is RW Camera Holdings at 16.3 percent and Foxteq Holdings with 10.4 percent. Foxteq is controlled by Taiwan-based Foxconn Far East Ltd., a Taiwanese company that provide GoPro and many other consumer electronics brands with contract manufacturing services. 
 

 

GoPro 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. The IPO is being underwritten by a syndicate of nine banks lead by J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Barclays and includes: Allen & Company LLC; Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated; Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated; MCS Capital Markets LLC; Piper Jaffray & Co.; and Raymond James & Associates, Inc., according to an S1 the company filed late Monday.

 

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 percent share during December 2011, according to the filing.

 

While the brand got its start in independent action sports specialty shops, it is now widely distributed. Best Buy, accounted for 17 percent of revenue in 2013 and 13 percent in the three months ended March 31, 2014, respectively. An international distributor, X-treme Video, accounted for 10 percent of sales during that recent quarter.

 

 

“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.”

 

 

 

 

The following table summarize GoPro's consolidated financial data

 

 

 

 

Consolidated statements of operations data:		Year ended December 31,												Three months ended March 31,
(in thousands, except per share amounts)		2011				2012				2013				2013				2014
Revenue		$	234,238			$	526,016			$	985,737			$	255,057			$	235,716
Cost of revenue(1)			111,683				298,530				623,953				165,628				139,202
Gross profit			122,555				227,486				361,874				89,429				96,514
Operating expenses:
Research and development(1)			8,644				36,115				73,737				12,012				28,739
Sales and marketing(1)			64,375				116,855				157,771				35,673				41,341
General and administrative(1)			10,757				20,899				31,573				6,988				9,878
Total operating expenses			83,776				173,869				263,081				54,673				79,958
Operating income			38,779				53,617				98,703				34,756				16,556
Other income (expense), net			12				(407	)			(7,374	)			(1,694	)			(1,625	)
Income before income taxes			38,791				53,210				91,329				33,062				14,931
Income tax expense			14,179				20,948				30,751				10,027				3,882
Net income		$	24,612			$	32,262			$	60,578			$	23,035			$	11,049