Pandora Thinks Investors Like What They Hear, Bumps Up IPO Price
Another sign investors are clamoring to get into the next wave of IPOs: Streaming music service Pandora has pushed up the price for its pending offering.
The company says it plans to sell shares at a range of $10 to $12 apiece, which will let it raise as much as $202 million when it hits the market. Last week, the company said it thought shares would go for $7 to $9, which would let it raise $142 million. At $12 a share, the company would sport a market cap of $1.9 billion.
[UPDATE: Pandora plans to start trading on the NYSE next Wednesday, June 15.]
It’s worth noting that in between last week’s filing and the one Pandora sent to the SEC today, Apple unveiled its iCloud/iTunes Match music service plans, which will let consumers access their own music collections from Internet-based servers.
It’s a completely different idea than Pandora’s service, which streams a selection of songs based on your likes and dislikes, but I’ve seen some commentary that iCloud/iTunes Match will pose a problem for Pandora. Pandora’s filing indicates that institutional investors, at least, don’t agree.
