Tableau Software would like some more, please. The company, less than a year after its IPO that spiked 64 percent in its first day, plans to sell $345 million in Class A shares to the public.
Here’s what’s fun: That sum is greater than what the company raised in its IPO. That total, $254 million, now all but feels quaint compared to the new, coming cash.
This is not even the first time that the company has gone back to the markets since its public offering, though its previous re-collect was for extant shareholders, and not the mother firm. As GeekWire reported:
[The new offering] follows a secondary offering in October, though in that instance the company did not reap any cash from the stock sale, as it was primarily connected to existing stockholders.
So that was for liquidity, and now the company is playing for keeps.
It’s not rare for a firm to pick up more cash when it can, especially after a successful offering, amidst a buoyant market that will likely embrace the new shares. Tableau is deliciously unclear about what it will do with the funds, though acquisitions are directly name-checked:
The principal purposes of this offering are to increase our public float and financial flexibility. As of the date of this prospectus, we cannot specify with certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds to us from this offering. However, we currently intend to use the net proceeds to us from this offering primarily for general corporate purposes, including working capital, sales and marketing activities, general and administrative matters and capital expenditures. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds from this offering for the acquisition of, or investment in, technologies, solutions or businesses that complement our business, although we have no present commitments or agreements to enter into any such acquisitions or investments.
Worth more than $5 billion, Tableau is not risking much dilution with the new shares. And given its modest — relative to the proposed cash infusion via the tertiary offering — $252 million in cash and equivalents, the new dollars will be more than welcome.
IMAGE BY FLICKR USER SEAN MCMENEMEY UNDER CC BY 2.0 LICENSE (IMAGE HAS BEEN CROPPED)