14 DAY TRIAL // In a second IPO within a week after Ancestry.com, network security company Fortinet plans to raise as much as $100 million in an initial public offering. The plans were disclosed in a regulatory SEC filing on Monday, the first step in the process. The sum is somewhat small for an IPO but it does mark a growing trust in tech companies even with the economic downturn still in full swing.
“The shares in the offering will be offered by Fortinet and certain selling stockholders. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not been determined,” the company said in a statement. “A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.”
The company will use the funding it aims to receive to further develop its products and possibly make smaller acquisitions in the security market. There is no clear date set for the availability of the new shares but the IPO comes at a time when the market is becoming more receptive to tech companies’ investments.
Fortinet had sales of $211.8 million in the 2008 fiscal year, up from the previous $155.4 million in 2007, and it was the only year when it was profitable, with $7.4 million in net income. In the first six months of this year the company earned $115.5 million but with a net loss of $916,000.
The security solution provider was founded in 2000 by brothers Ken Xie and Michael Xie, who are now CEO and CTO respectively. The company creates unified threat management (UTM) appliances that offer the full range of security options, bundling an anti-virus, firewall software, intrusion prevention and other capabilities into one product. This solution is favored by smaller businesses because of the small maintenance overhead.