Splunk (SPLK) started trading on the NASDAQ on April 19, 2012

Splunk (SPLK) is a big data analytics company. Splunk’s software collects and indexes data regardless of format or source, and enables users to search, correlate, analyze, monitor and report on this data, all in real time.

Splunk, based in San Francisco, is a six-year-old software company that helps customers search and analyze data from applications to mobile devices. The 500-person company is led by Chief Executive Godfrey Sullivan, a technology executive with 30 years of experience. Sullivan, 58 years old, had seemingly already reached the peak of his career when he sold Hyperion to Oracle for $3.3 billion. But he decided to take another run at turning a small company into a heavyweight. "After Hyperion, I played about three rounds of golf and realized I wasn't ready to join the graveyard of ex-CEOs," he told Bloomberg yesterday.

His 7.1% stake in Splunk is now worth about $243 million, The Wall Street Journal reports. While the company lost $11 million in its most recent fiscal year, Sullivan has won praise for boosting revenue thirteen-fold since he took over four years ago, to $121 million from $9.07 million.

Now that the company is flush with cash, it plans to hire. Sullivan told Fortune Splunk plans to hire at least 200 additional engineers. While the prospect of IPO riches is gone, if Splunk can make money from big data, new employees will reap rewards from stock options.

Facebook targets May 18th for IPO date

According to multiple sources close to the company, Facebook is eyeing IPO on May 18th — depending on whether the SEC agrees that all the reams of paperwork (including those concerning its recent acquisition of Instagram) are in order.

According to our sources, Facebook will be valued at around $100 billion, reflecting current levels of trading in the secondary markets (and avoiding SEC scrutiny). Other reports say that the company wants to raise $10 billion at a $100 billion valuation.

With 2.51 billion fully-diluted shares outstanding, the valuation desired would price the company at around $40 a share.

The Millennial Media IPO was pushed up to early April because Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, which were underwriting both offerings, wanted to “make room” for Facebook.

Millennial Media started trading on the NYSE

Millennial Media Inc.’s top executives became instant millionaires Thursday following the Baltimore mobile advertising company’s successful initial public offering.

Paul Palmieri, wearing a green tie and glasses, stands on the floor Thursday of the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares opened at $13 apiece and nearly doubled to $25.20 as of noon Thursday. That means within hours of the stock offering, CEO and co-founder Paul Palmieri’s net worth had soared.
Palmieri sold 394,544 shares, worth $5.1 million, as part of Thursday’s IPO. But after the offering Palmieri will still own nearly 6.7 million shares of the company, which as of Thursday afternoon were worth $168 million.

Chris Brandenburg, co-founder and chief technology officer, will hold 5.5 million shares worth $137.3 million. Stephen Root, chief operating officer, owns 1.86 million valued at $46.8 million.

Milliennial (NYSE: MM) on Thursday issued 9.2 million shares, with another 1 million offered by selling stockholders. Underwriters also had a 30-day option to purchase an aggregate of up to an additional 1.53 million shares.

IPOs this week (16 April 2012) : 5 companies scheduled

The following are scheduled to IPO this week:

1. Splunk (SPLK);  on the Nasdaq; seeking to raise $135 million
2. Infoblox (BLOX); on the NYSE; wants to raise $106 million
3. Proofpoint Inc.( PFPT);  on the Nasdaq; seeking to raise $74 million
4. Midstates Petroleum (MPO); on the NYSE; wants to raise $432 million
5. Tumi (TUMI );  on the NYSE; wants to raise $320 million

Splunk hopes to raise as much as $135 million. It makes software that allows companies to collect and analyze large quantities of data, especially that generated by machines.

Machine-generated data are produced by nearly every software application and electronic device operating on a company's system, and contains time-stamped records of every event, ranging from user activity to security threats.

Splunk boasts that more than 3,700 customers, including a majority of the Fortune 100, use its software, including Bank of America Corp., BAC +1.27% Harvard University and Zynga Inc. ZNGA -7.64% Its software can search, analyze and monitor data in real time.

Splunk's revenue rose 83% to $121 million in the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, and it reported a net loss of $11 million, compared with a loss of $3.8 million a year earlier. The company has never been profitable.

Infoblox wants to raise $106 million. The company combines hardware and software in appliances that it sells to automate businesses' computer network functions, such as network discovery and device configuration. Its appliances have been sold to more than 5,400 businesses, including Adobe Systems Inc., (ADBE), Barclays, Caterpillar (CAT), the Federal Aviation Administration and IBM Corp.

When businesses automate network control, they stop using manual processes for routine network tasks and are able to create what Infoblox calls "dynamic networks" that allow data centers to perform virtualization, cloud computing, software-as-a-service and high-speed networking that support multiple business operations. Automating network control becomes more important as networks become bigger and more complicated because of the growth in the number of devices and software applications that need to connect to the network.

Infoblox, which was founded in 1999, says it believes that the market for automated network control will grow as more businesses replace their legacy network controls. For the six months that ended Jan. 31, net revenue increased 31% to $80.7 million, and it reported a net loss of $2.8 million, compared with a loss of $132,000 in the same period a year earlier. The company has a history of losses, although it was profitable in fiscal 2010.

A third software firm, Proofpoint Inc. offers security software for large and midsize businesses to prevent the theft of sensitive data through attacks and phishing messages, to archive information as well as to securely share information with customers and business partners. Its products are used by about 2,400 customers, including 26 of the Fortune 100. Its top-line growth hasn't been quite as swift as Splunk or Infoblox; in 2011, revenue rose 26% to $82 million, and it reported a net loss of $20 million, down slightly from a loss of $21 million in 2010.

Also on deck for the week are two larger nontech deals: oil exploration company Midstates Petroleum Co. and luxury luggage and briefcase maker Tumi Holdings Inc.

Tumi makes carry-on luggage, garment bags, briefcases and totes. Founded in 1975, it sells its wares through its own retail stores and website as well as through luggage retailers, department stores and third-party websites such as Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN). It plans to increase its own retail store base in North America and internationally, aiming to add eight to 16 new ones in each of the next three years, and to expand its wholesale distribution.

Tumi said it believes many consumers deferred purchases of its products during the financial crisis, and postcrisis sales appear to be increasing due in part to these deferred purchases. In 2011, the company's net sales increased 31% to $330 million, and it reported net income of $17 million, compared with $104,000 in 2010.

Midstates focuses on oil fields in Louisiana that were discovered by major oil companies in the 1940s and 1950s, but weren't fully developed due to the price of oil, state taxes and regulatory limitations.

Since the third quarter of 2008, Midstates has drilled 57 wells, 93% of which are in commercial production. The company's average daily production has increased during the period by a compound annual growth rate of 96%, and it aims to drill as many as 67 wells this year. In 2011, Midstates' total revenue more than tripled to $214 million, and the company swung to a profit of $17 million, from a loss of $16 million in 2010.

Though its financials are good, oil-exploration companies are usually considered higher-risk deals due to the volatility of energy prices and the possibility that they may not be able to take all their wells into viable production.

Caesarstone (CSTE) started trading on the NASDAQ on March 22, 2012

Caesarstone Ltd. (CSTE), a quartz surface pioneer and global leader, visited the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square in celebration of their initial public offering, which occurred today, March 22, 2012, on The NASDAQ Stock Market.

Carlyle Seeks IPO That Would Value Firm Below Blackstone, KKR

Carlyle Group LP (CG) is seeking to raise as much as $762.5 million in an initial public offering that would give the Washington-based private-equity firm less than half the market value of Blackstone Group LP. (BX)

Carlyle, the world’s second-biggest buyout firm by assets under management, will offer 30.5 million shares at $23 to $25 each, a regulatory filing today shows. At the top end of the range, the firm would be valued at as much as $7.6 billion, compared with about $16.5 billion for Blackstone, the biggest private-equity firm, and $9.8 billion for KKR & Co.

The IPO would follow last week’s offering by Oaktree Capital Group LLC (OAK), which raised less than planned and has dropped for three straight days. Firms such as Blackstone and Apollo Global Management LLC (APO) have also declined since their debuts. That performance, coupled with the difficulty of projecting earnings, may have persuaded Carlyle to value itself conservatively.

Carlyle’s IPO may price as soon as May 2. The firm had about $147 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, compared with about $166 billion for Blackstone. The New York-based firm, which went public at a market value of $33.5 billion in 2007, has since shrunk by half.

IPOs rise in 2012

During the first quarter of 2012, 20 companies held their IPOs, the most since the fourth quarter of 2007. The companies raised a total of $1.4 billion. By comparison, 11 companies went public in the first quarter of 2011, raising a total of $768 million.

In the pipeline is an IPO by Carmel Valley-based ServiceNow, a cloud-based information technology company. ServiceNow filed its statement on March 30; presumably it will complete the offering sometime in the second quarter.

If the ServiceNow IPO goes through, it would be San Diego County's first since The Active Network, in Sorrento Valley, went public on May 25, 2011. Active Network (ACTV), which makes software for organizing events and activities, saw its stock close Monday at $16.79, down 4 cents.

And worldwide, attention is focused on social networking site Facebook's upcoming IPO, which it filed on Feb. 1.

The resurgence of IPOs is easy to explain, said John E. Fitzgibbon Jr., a veteran IPO watcher: They're where the money is.

A strong stock market pulls in money from investors, including those buying into public offerings, said Fitzgibbon, founder of IPOScoop.com, a research firm that predicts the opening-day performance of IPOs.
You don't have to look any further than the Nasdaq Composite, Fitzgibbon said. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is an indicator for IPOs, which are mainly technology companies.

It's on a 12-year recovery high, up 19 percent in the first quarter, said Fitzgibbon in comparing the quarter's performance against the quarter ended Dec. 31.

BrightSource shelves IPO, walks away from public markets

April 13--Solar thermal startup BrightSource Energy's abrupt decision Wednesday night to shelve its yearlong plans for an initial public stock offering came amid a challenging year for solar stocks and a turbulent year for clean energy technologies.

On the day it was expected to price its stock for a Thursday launch on Nasdaq, the Oakland-based company issued a press release shortly before 8 p.m. Pacific time saying it had decided not to pursue its IPO due to adverse market conditions. On Thursday, it withdrew its application on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission -- a firm sign that company has abandoned plans to raise money on the public markets.

While we received significant interest from potential investors, the continued market and economic volatility are not optimal conditions for an IPO, said CEO John Woolard in a statement. As a company, we've consistently made decisions in the best interest of our shareholders, employees and customers, and we will continue to do so. Fortunately, we're in a strong financial position and have the support of world-class investors and partners.

Rather than the photovoltaic solar panels visible on rooftops across California, BrightSource builds massive solar thermal power projects in desert locations. Along with competitors like Abengoa and SolarReserve, it is a leading player in what's known as Concentrating Solar Power or CSP. But CSP faces growing competition from photovoltaic solar

panels, which have drastically fallen in price, and CSP companies are racing to cut costs. The country is also awash in cheap natural gas, putting further pressure on renewable sources of energy.

Many analysts said Thursday that BrightSource now has two options: raise additional money from private investors or hope that they get acquired.

BrightSource was awarded a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, whose loan program came under fierce attack from House Republicans after Fremont-based Solyndra, which was awarded a $535 million loan guarantee, filed for bankruptcy last year.

The guarantee attracted private investors to BrightSource, including NRG Solar, which invested $300 million in the Ivanpah project. Google also invested $168 million in the project.

Laureate Education eyes IPO up to $750 million

(Reuters) - For-profit higher education company Laureate Education, which has former U.S. President Bill Clinton as honorary chancellor, has picked banks to lead an initial public offering that could raise as much as $750 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

Laureate has chosen Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Barclays (BARC.L) to lead the proposed offering, the sources said. Citigroup (C.N) is also an active bookrunner in the IPO, they added.

The Baltimore, Maryland-based company, which was bought by a consortium led by its chief executive, Douglas Becker, and private equity firm KKR & Co LP (KKR.N) for $3.82 billion in 2007, is expected to file an IPO registration document after June, the sources said.

They added that no decision had been made on the size of the offering, but the IPO could raise $500 million to $750 million.

Representatives for Laureate, KKR, Morgan Stanley, Barclays and Citigroup declined to comment.

Sources told Reuters on March 29 that Laureate was in the process of appointing investment banks for an IPO.

Laureate Education runs a network of 60 accredited campus-based and online universities offering undergraduate and graduate degrees to more than 675,000 students around the world, according to its website.

About half Laureate's revenues come from Mexico, Chile and Brazil, where post-secondary enrollment is growing faster than in the United States and international schools are less regulated, according to a recent Standard & Poor's note.

The consortium that bought Laureate in 2007 also included investment firms Citigroup Private Equity, S.A.C. Capital Management LLC, SPG Partners, Bregal Investments, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, Sterling Capital, Makena Capital, Torreal S.A. and Southern Cross Capital.

Facebook to buy Instagram for $1 billion

The social network announced Monday that it is buying photo-sharing service Instagram, a two year-old San Francisco-based company that has attracted more than 30 million users, for $1 billion in a cash and stock deal.

The deal marks an attempt by Facebook to maintain dominance in an area that has proved one of its stickiest and most popular features: photo sharing. At the end of last year, Facebook users were uploading more than 250 million photos a day, on average, according to Facebook's filing with the SEC. The social network's members also spend nearly a fifth of their time on the site browsing photos, a 2011 comScore study found.

Instagram has, in just two short years, developed an offering that has proved attractive and compelling to a diverse group of users, and Facebook no doubt hopes to capitalize on the photo sharing app's expertise.

Facebook picks Nasdaq for IPO

The social network will list its shares under the ticker symbol FB on Nasdaq, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who demanded anonymity because the discussions were private.

It’s a significant coup for the exchange, which has been embroiled in a fierce battle with the New York Stock Exchange for the darlings of Silicon Valley. While big technology companies, like Apple and Google, have traditionally flocked to Nasdaq, the N.Y.S.E. has aggressively courted the new crop of Internet companies over the last year, nabbing notable offerings like LinkedIn and Pandora Media.

For Nasdaq, Facebook is not just any listing. With more than 800 million users and $3.7 billion in revenue, Facebook has come to dominate the social media industry.

The company is widely expected to go public next month and is on track to be the largest offering since Google’s debut in 2004. The I.P.O. could value the sprawling social network as high as $100 billion, people close to the company have said. Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs are leading the I.P.O.

SEC conducting preliminary Groupon probe

(Crain's) — The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an informal inquiry into Groupon Inc.'s accounting issues that caused it to restate fourth-quarter results.

The SEC's probe is preliminary, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Groupon said the revision, which reduced fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, was caused by the need for higher reserves for refunds on deals that have higher price tags, such as Lasik eye surgery and laser hair removal.

The company didn't provide additional details on how much the total refunds were compared with its reserves at the time.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a high number of refunds began showing up in January and were disclosed to top management by the company's chief accounting officer in February.

The company 's auditors, Ernst & Young LLP, said it found Groupon had a material weakness in its internal accounting and financial controls.

The revelations are causing big problems for Groupon, which earned a reputation for aggressive accounting after a lengthy battle with the SEC during its IPO preparation that caused it to revise financial results before going public. It also brought criticism of Chief Financial Officer Jason Child.

Its stock has fallen 16 percent since Friday and is trading near its lowest point.

Major IPO performance - select companies from the past few years

COMPANY		PROFILE		DATE	TICKER	IPO PRICE	OPEN	CLOSE	% GAIN
Apple		#1 tech company		12/12/1980	AAPL
Google		#1 mobile ad network		8/19/2004	GOOG	$85	100	$100.34	17%
LinkedIn		online professional network		5/19/2011	LNKD	$45	$83	$94.25	109%
FRIENDFINDER		social/sexual network		5/12/11	FFN	$10	7.85		-22%
Boingo Wireless		global wifi hotspots		5/4/2011	WIFI	$13.50	13.15	$12.10	-10%
SPLUNK INC		software for data search		4/19/2012	SPLK	$17	$31.75	$35.48	108
MILLENNIAL MEDIA		#2 mobile ad network		3/29/2012	MM	$13	$25	$26	100
ANGIE'S LIST		consumer review site		11/17/11	ANGI	$13	$18	15.05	15
ZILLOW INC		online real estate		7/21/11	Z	$20	$60	$35.77	79%
YELP INC		online consumer review		3/2/12	YELP	$15	$22.01	$24.58	64
Demand Media Inc		online content publisher		1/26/11	DMD	$17		$22.65	33
Pandora Media		Internet radio company		6/15/11	P	$16	$20	$17.42	9
Groupon Inc		online deals company		11/4/11	GRPN	$20	$28	$26.11	31
Jive Software Inc		social software for businesses		12/13/2011	JIVE	$12		15.06	25
Zynga Inc.		developer of online games		12/16/11	ZNGA	10	11	9.5	-5%
skullcandy		headphones		7/20/2011	SKUL	$20	$23	$20	unch
homeaway inc.		online vacation		6/28/11	AWAY	$27	$36	40.21	49
ExactTarget Inc.		email marketing		3/22/12	ET	$19	$23	25.11	32
bankrate.com		online finance product rates		6/17/2011	RATE	$15	$14	15.73	5
fusion-io		data storage		6/9/11	FIO	$19	$25	22.5	8
Freescale Semicond		chips		5/26/11	FSL	$18	$19	18.33	2
The Active Network		website software		5/25/11	ACTV	$15	$15	15.9	6
RPX Corporation		tech patents		5/4/2011	RPXC	$19	$24	23.88	8
Responsys, Inc.		digital marketing		4/21/2011	MKTG	$12	$16	15.4	25
carbonite		online file back-up		8/11/2011	CARB	$10	$11	12.35	20
Tangoe		telecom software		7/27/2011	TNGO	$10	$11	11.65	16%
michael kors		trendy clothing		12/15/2011	KORS	$20	$25	24.2	12%
digital domain media		digital special effects		11/18/2011	DDMG	$9	$9	7.15	-20
intermolecular		clean energy tech & IP		11/19/2011	IMI	$10	$10	9.5	-5
invensense		vid game motion sensors		11/16/2011	INVN	$8	$8	8.9	10
imperva		data security		11/9/2011	IMPV	$18	$23	24	35
ubiquiti		wireless broadband		10/14/2011	UBNT	$15	$17	17.5	15
cafepress		online print demand		3/29/2012	PRSS	$19	$22	19.03	unch
vocera comm		hi-tek walki-talki's		3/28/2012	VCRA	$16	$24	21.03	30
vantiv		payment processor		3/22/2012	VNTV	$17	$19	19.5	15
demandware		on-demand software		3/15/2012	DWRE	$16	$25	23.59	35
M/A com tech		wireless circuits		3/15/2012	MTSI	$19	$19	20.55	7
envivio		IP vid processing		2/25/2012	ENVI	$9	$9	8.49	-5
bazaarvoice		e-commerce software		2/24/2012	BV	$12	$16	16.51	35
brightcove		cloud		2/17/2012	BCOV	$11	$14	14.3	30
synacore		tech to broadband		2/10/2012	SYNC	$5	$6	5.25	5
fx alliance		fx online trading		2/9/2012	FX	$12	$14	13.74	15
AVG tech		anti-virus		2/2//12	AVG	$16	$14	13	-20
guidewire		insurance software		1/25/2012	GWRE	$13	$17	17.12	30
infoblox		network services		4/20/2012	BLOX	$16	$23	21.3	35
proofpoint		messaging security		4/20/2012	PFPT	$13	$17	14.08	8
						$17	22.45953	$22.14	30%