So finally it has happened: ComScore, the Internet traffic measurement firm, plans an IPO of stock to fund more acquisitions and a possible overseas expansion. In an S-1 filed with SEC, it has yet to determine the number of IPO shares to be sold or the price range for the offering. It wil list on Nasdaq under the ticker SCOR.
ComScore was founded in 1999, when there were two firms then: Jupiter Media Metrix and NetRatings. NetRatings has survived, but Jupiter’s assets were sold and some were bought by ComScore.
Some other numbers from S-1, via MarketWatch story:
—About 75 percent of its $66 million in sales in 2006 came through its subscription services. A “significant” amount, or about 12 percent of its 2006 sales, came from one company, namely, Microsoft.
—It has $86 million since 1999 from about a dozen private investment firms, including Accel Partners (27.3% stake), JPMorgan Partners (11.6%), Institutional Venture Partners (10.1%), Lehman Brothers (8.1%), Adams Street Partners (7.9%), Topspin Partners (5.4%), Flatiron Partners, vSpring Capital, Devine InterVentures and Rembrandt Venture Partners.
—While it suffered net losses in 2004 and 2005 of $3.2 million and $4.4 million respectively, it was profitable in every quarter in 2006 and ended the year with a $5.7 million profit. ComScore had nearly $100 million in debt as of Dec. 31.
DJ Newswires: The filing also alludes to a pending overseas expansion, although details were not forthcoming. In 2006, comScore generated 9% of its sales from outside the U.S. market. ComScore also hinted at several new projects in the offing, including an effort to measure online video consumption and a means to measure Internet activity on wireless phones.
The full S-1 filing is here.