EMC Corp, parent of the world's largest maker of data storage gear used by corporate data centers, sold thirty three million class A shares of VMware in an initial public offering price of $29. VMW surged to $52 at the start of trading on Tuesday August 14, 2007.
At $50 with three hundred and seventy five (375) million shares of common stock, VMware has a market capitalization of nineteen billion dollars ($19B). Suddenly, VMware is in the top ten list of software makers based on market cap!
So far this year, the top IPO in the United States has been Fortress Investment Group LLC (Ticker FIG) which gained 67.6 percent on its first trading day on February 8th.
At 10:37PST VMW is trading at $53.97, up 86 percent from its IPO price of $29.
Excerpts from the Press Release:
- PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VMware (NYSE: VMW) today announced that the IPO of 33,000,000 shares of its Class A Common Stock has been priced at $29 per share. Shares will begin trading tomorrow, August 14, 2007, on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "VMW".
- Citi, JPMorgan and Lehman Brothers acted as the representatives of the underwriters and, together with Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Deutsche Bank Securities, acted as the joint book-running managers of the offering.
- About VMware: VMware, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC), is the leading provider of virtualization solutions. VMware's customer base includes 100% of the Fortune 100 and more than 84% of the Fortune 1,000. VMware's broad and proven suite of virtualization solutions addresses a range of complex IT problems that include infrastructure optimization, business continuity, software lifecycle management and desktop management. VMware was founded in 1998 and is based in Palo Alto, California. For more information, visit http://www.vmware.com.
Kirk's VMR Disclaimer: I do not own VMR at the time I am writing this article and I make no promises to tell you here if I buy or sell it ahead of time in either portfolio. Buy at your own risk and consult with your own investment advisor before doing so.
Kirk Lindstrom: Disclaimers: Answers & my words are general in nature, are not meant as specific investment advice, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of anyone but Kirk.
