Via reboots IPO plans as profit nears
Via Transportation publicly filed for its NYSE IPO, providing flexibility to launch the offering after the September 1 Labor Day holiday.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Allen and Wells Fargo are joint books leading a 12-strong syndicate of banks.
This is the second time the company filed for an IPO. Via announced in December 2021 it had filed confidentially for a public offering but didn't follow through with the plan.
This time round, the logistics technology provider is selling stock on the deal as are selling shareholders, suggesting an offering size in the range of US$500m, according to IFR calculations.
“The Via team’s passion for helping governments operate more efficiently has only grown over the years,” said Via co-founder and CEO Daniel Ramot in a letter to prospective investors.
Starting from its home base in New York City, the ride has been “bumpy”, forcing Via to be “creative” and “scrappy”, Ramot said.
Yet Via is now inflecting towards profitability. In the first six months of the year, the company narrowed adjusted Ebitda losses to US$17.3m while growing revenue by 26.5% to US$205.8m. It had US$78.2m of cash as of June 30 and US$30m drawn on a revolving credit facility.
Exor, the investment arm of the Italian Agnelli family, is Via’s largest shareholder with 14.1m shares owned. In 2020, Exor acquired what was then an 8.9% stake by investing US$200m in an early-stage round.
In February 2023, Via raised another US$100m in a funding round led by 83North that valued it at US$3.5bn. Exor, Pitango and Janus Henderson were among the investors that participated in that round.