Accel-backed Atlassian raises $462m in US IPO

The company sold 22 million shares at $21.00 apiece, according to a filing, and this could be swelled by a further 3.3 million shares if underwriters fully exercise the overallotment option. Atlassian was initially planning to sell 20 million shares at $16.50-18.50 apiece, but subsequently increased the size of the offering and raised the price range to $19.00-20.00.

The IPO values the company at $4.38 billion, compared to the $3.33 billion valuation at which the company raised its most recent private funding round. Accel Partners committed $60 million to the business in 2010 and then made a partial exit when T. Rowe Price and Dragoneer put in $150 million, paying $16.00 per share. Both rounds were secondary transactions.

T. Rowe Price expressed an interest in acquiring 4 million shares in the IPO, which would take its holding in the company past 5%. Its exact stake is not disclosed. Accel is not selling any shares in the IPO but its holding will be diluted from 12.5% to 11.2%. Co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar each own 37.2% of the company. They will be diluted to 33.3% apiece due to the issue of new shares.

The duo, who met while studying at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, set up Atlassian in 2002. The company develops products aimed at software developers and project managers. Its core offering is JIRA, which is used to manage team workflow. Atlassian has also created a host of other applications, including a private chatroom service, a workplace collaboration platform, and various systems integration and optimization services.

Atlassian has more than five million monthly active users of its products and in excess of 51,000 customers, defined as organizations with at least one active and paid license or subscription for which they paid more than $10 per month. Customers range from small and medium-sized enterprises to 79 members of the Fortune 100.

The firm has been profitable for each of the last 10 financial years. Revenue came to $319.5 million for the 12 months ended June 2015, up from $215.1 million the previous year. Maintenance accounts for approximately half of revenue, followed by subscriptions and perpetual licenses. Net profit fell to $6.77 million in 2015 from $18.9 million in 2013, largely due to a substantial increase in R&D expenditure.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Technology
• Australasia
• Exits
• Australia
• IPO
• Exit
• Technology
• Accel Partners