Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Nearly 25 years of experience in analyzing hundreds of companies, especially in Asia. Deep expertise in the following sectors:
- Technology (E-commerce, SaaS, Internet)
- Consumer 
- Special Situations/Deep Value Plays
- Holdcos/Stubs
- Asian Unicorns/Private Companies

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Equity Capital Markets

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<strong>Headquartered in Austin, Texas, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/15648" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15648:1">Solarwinds Inc (SWI US)</a> is a leading global provider of IT infrastructure management software systems. </strong>The company is getting ready for an IPO in the NASDAQ exchange this week with a price of US$17 to US$19 per share. At the mid-point of the IPO price range (US$18 per share), the company's market cap would be US$5.4 billion, and would raise about US$756 million. </li>
<li>SolarWinds first went public in 2009. In February 2016, the company was acquired by private equity firms Silver Lake and Thoma Bravo for US$4.5 billion in a leveraged buyout. Both Silver Lake and Thomas Bravo are highly reputable private equity firms and these stakeholders should be mostly positive for the SolarWinds IPO.</li>
<li>One of the company's key strategies is to target focus on the technology professionals. According to the company, <em>"it does not have an outside sales force or professional services organization. It does not wine and dine the C-suite. It does not sponsor golf tournaments or buy Super Bowl ads." </em>Rather, the company markets and sells its products directly to the IT professionals, including network and systems engineers, database administrators, and managed service providers (MSPs).  </li>
<li>The company's major competitors include <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/15269" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15269:1">Netscout Systems (NTCT US)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/1064" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1064:1">Intl Business Machines (IBM US)</a>, MicroFocus (MFGP US), CA Technologies (CA US), BMC Software, Nagios, Manage Engine, ConnectWise, Continuum, Datto, and Kaseya. This remains a fragmented industry ripe for consolidation. In terms of comparable companies, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/15269" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15269:1">Netscout Systems (NTCT US)</a> and CA Technologies (CA US) appear to be most comparable. Investors are also likely to take into consideration the recent acquisition of BMC Software by KKR. In addition, the recent software IPOs in 2018 including <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/27117" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27117:1">Zuora Inc (ZUO US)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/27060" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27060:1">DocuSign Inc (DOCU US)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/27115" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27115:1">Smartsheet Inc (SMAR US)</a> are likely be used as comparable companies for SolarWinds. </li>
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Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Solarwinds Inc (SWI US) is a leading global provider of IT infrastructure management software systems. The company is getting ready for an IPO in the NASDAQ exchange this week with a price of US$17 to US$19 per share. At the mid-point of the IPO price range (US$18 per share), the company's market cap would be US$5.4 billion, and would raise about US$756 million. 
SolarWinds first went public in 2009. In February 2016, the company was acquired by private equity firms Silver Lake and Thoma Bravo for US$4.5 billion in a leveraged buyout. Both Silver Lake and Thomas Bravo are highly reputable private equity firms and these stakeholders should be mostly positive for the SolarWinds IPO.
One of the company's key strategies is to target focus on the technology professionals. According to the company, "it does not have an outside sales force or professional services organization. It does not wine and dine the C-suite. It does not sponsor golf tournaments or buy Super Bowl ads." Rather, the company markets and sells its products directly to the IT professionals, including network and systems engineers, database administrators, and managed service providers (MSPs).  
The company's major competitors include Netscout Systems (NTCT US), Intl Business Machines (IBM US), MicroFocus (MFGP US), CA Technologies (CA US), BMC Software, Nagios, Manage Engine, ConnectWise, Continuum, Datto, and Kaseya. This remains a fragmented industry ripe for consolidation. In terms of comparable companies, Netscout Systems (NTCT US) and CA Technologies (CA US) appear to be most comparable. Investors are also likely to take into consideration the recent acquisition of BMC Software by KKR. In addition, the recent software IPOs in 2018 including Zuora Inc (ZUO US), DocuSign Inc (DOCU US), and Smartsheet Inc (SMAR US) are likely be used as comparable companies for SolarWinds. 


SolarWinds Corp IPO Preview (Part 1) - "Make IT Look Easy"