Violin finally tunes up for IPO

Storage vendor to pump cash raised into research and development and sales and marketing

Violin Memory plans to raise $172.5m (£111.23m) after it finally submitted plans for its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) this week.

The firm's chief executive Don Basile publicly promised the firm would float in the past, but yesterday the company finally submitted its S-1 form to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The US-headquartered vendor plans to use the proceeds to further its sales and marketing efforts and to pump more cash into research and development, as well as using it to repay outstanding debt. Some of the money may also be used for acquisitions, although Violin stressed it has not allocated a specific budget yet.

JP Morgan Securities, Deutsche Bank Securities and Merrill Lynch will act as leading joint managers for the offering, with Barclays, Baird and Pacific Crest also involved.

While the statements have been submitted, Violin says they are not yet effective, but if it does go ahead, it plans to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange as VMEM.

In its fiscal year ending 31 January, Violin's revenue stood at $74m, up 37 per cent annually, but its net losses widened to $109m, in comparison to a loss of $45m the previous year.