"Bloomberg" quotes two sources as saying that free do-it-yourself website builder Wix Inc. plans to raise $75 million on Wall Street, and it has chosen JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) as the underwriter.
The amount would give Wix a company value of $350-400 million for the offering.
Wix was founded in 2006 by CEO Avishai Abrahami, his brother, Nadav, who serves as VP R&D, and CTO Giora Kaplan. The company has raised $66 million to date from Benchmark Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, DAG Ventures, DS Capital, Insight Ventures, and Mangrove Venture Capital.
Asked by "Globes" last month about a Nasdaq offering, Avishai Abrahami said, "That is a cool place, and we may one day go there. But it isn't the goal. I never make five-year plans. I'm surrounded by people who love what they do, and I intend to continue this for now."
Asked about Wix's value of $310 million mentioned by "Business Insider," Abrahami said, "Leave it. I have no idea. They're understating; our value is much greater."
Over a year ago, Abrahami rejected an offer to sell Wix for $200 million. "We may have erred; I don’t know," he told "Globes". "If Google were to make an offer for a fantastic amount, I might have personally said, 'no,' but the company has 399 other people who have to be taken care of. It isn't that we won't ever sell; but we're not looking for an exit. There are no big Israeli high-tech companies in our field, and before Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), there were no big companies at all."
Wix was unavailable for comment about the report.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 20, 2013
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