Sonos to mount IPO
July 9, 2018
By Chris Forrester
Fast-growing high-end wireless audio specialists Sonos is to mount an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
California-based Sonos, which has not made an annual profit since 2014, issued its regulatory filing on July 6th, and reported a 10 percent rise in revenues for 2017 (to $992.5 million) and a net loss of $14.2 million, itself down on its 2016 loss of $38.2 million on revenues of $901.3 million.
However, for the 6-month period to March 31st revenues and profits were definitely positive (up 18 percent y-o-y), with revenues of $655.7 million and a net income of $13.1 million.
In its prospectus the company says its consumers use its equipment for an average of 70 hours of content per month, and as at March 31st it had 19 million registered products in almost 7 million homes around the world.
Private equity firm KKR owns some 26 per cent of the business, while founder (and CEO) John MacFarlane holds 13 per cent.
Sonos has a strong balance sheet, with some $118 million of cash on its books, and debts of just $40 million. Generally, the IPO is seen as a marketing move and to generate some cash for its main shareholders.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Allen & Co are the lead underwriters for the offering. Sonos will be listed on the NASDAQ as ‘SONO’. There is no date yet as to the actual IPO.