Pure Storage plots $400m IPO

Flash upstart expected to begin trading on the NYSE in week of 5 October

Pure Storage is aiming to raise about $400m through its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, which has been tipped for early October.

The flash storage vendor announced in its S-1 form yesterday that it will offer 25 million shares at a price range of $16 to $18, which would give it a valuation of $3.3bn at the top end.

Pure said the proceeds, which would come to $395.2m at the mid-point of the price range after expenses, will be used for general corporate purposes such as product development and sales and marketing, as well as potential acquisitions.

The Mountain View-based vendor lifted the lid on its financial performance for the first time in August when it filed for its IPO, revealing that net losses of $183.2m in its last financial year ending 31 January 2015 exceeded revenues of $174.5m.

An executive at EMC, an incumbent storage vendor Pure has aggressively targetted since it was founded in 2009, claimed those numbers show that Pure had exaggerated its growth.

In an update on its financial performance, Pure said yesterday that revenues for the six months ending 31 July 2015 hit $158.7m, compared with $59.4m in the same period in 2014. It now claims to have over 1,100 customers.

"We believe the benefits of next-generation flash storage will drive flash to ultimately become the predominant form of primary enterprise storage and present a broad market opportunity," Pure said in its S-1 document.

Pure added in the document that investment in its channel ecosystem, including in the form of training, demand generation and partner programmes, form a "key element" of its growth strategy.

According to The Silicon Valley Business Journal, Pure is expected to take the plunge on the NYSE in the week beginning 5 October. It will trade under the symbol PSTG.