Pluralsight LLC, (Nasdaq: PS) an online education company based in Utah, intends to go public on Wednesday, May 16, 2018. Shares of the company will start trading on the Nasdaq Global Select under the ticker symbol “PS”. In its filing with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission, Pluralsight wants to raise a total of $228 million by selling shares of its common stock.

Pluralsight IPO will make 20.7 million shares of class A common stock available to the public at a price range of $10.00 to $12.00 a share. At the midpoint of the price range, the firm would enjoy a fully diluted market valuation of $1.5 billion. As of Mar. 31, 2018, Pluralsight had $175.2 million in total liabilities (not including deferred revenue) and $32.4 million in cash.

The company intends to use proceeds of the IPO to purchase newly-issued LLC units from Pluralsight Holdings, pay the unpaid expenses of the offering, and settle outstanding non-transferable EARs (equity appreciation rights).

It has also revealed that it could use a portion of the proceeds to satisfy income tax withholding requirements related with the initial settlement of certain restricted stock units (RSUs) that it expects to settle in November.

The company listed sales of $132 million and $167 million in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and losses of $21 million and $97 million in both years. In Q1 2018, They generated 64% of its total revenue from clients within the US. It plans to intensify its global expansion strategies to build on the customer bases it has created in more than 150 countries.

The company was established in 2004 with an aim of creating an education platform for companies of all sizes. The firm offers an e-learning platform that is aimed at benefiting individuals and businesses to help them obtain more knowledge as well as business skills.

The founders of the company wanted businesses to be able to improve the skills and knowledge of their workforce, and for individual persons to pursue their educational objectives.

The company is under the leadership of co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Aaron Skonnard. The CEO formerly worked as an associate professor and a consultant at Neumont University.

The Utah-based firm has partnered with major tech companies across various industry sectors. Insight Venture Partners owns 53% Class B share in the company. Other investors with a stake in Pluralsight include Keith Sparkjoy (7.4%) and ICONIQ Strategic Partners (9.3%).

Aaron Skonnard also has a stake of 13.4% of Class C shares in the firm. The competitors of Pluralsight LLC include, Udemy, Udacity, New Horizons, Cornerstone OnDemand, LinkedIn Learning, Global Knowledge, YouTube and Skillsoft.  

Pluralsight listed inability to retain and attract authors who are not workers, as well as, slower-than-expected adoption of learning platforms based on cloud technology as the most possible risks that it is likely to face.

The bookrunners of the offering include J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, First Analysis Securities, SunTrust Robison Humphrey, Needham & Company, Morgan Stanley and Raymond James.

Source