Online Used Car Seller Vroom Raises $467.5 Million In Upsized US IPO

Online used car seller Vroom Inc raised $467.5 million in its U.S. initial public offering, the company said on Monday, as the IPO market picks up momentum after the COVID-19 pandemic placed many debuts on hold.

Vroom priced its IPO at $22, above the initially marketed range of $18 to $20, valuing the company, which is backed by funds such as T Rowe Price Associates and L Catterton, at $2.48 billion. The company sold 21.25 million shares compared with the earlier plan of 18.8 million shares.

Recent recovery in the U.S. stock markets has led to a flurry of IPO-hopefuls entering the race. Royalty Pharma, which buys biopharmaceutical royalties, unveiled plans on Monday to raise up to $1.96 billion in an IPO.

Vroom, which had filed for an IPO last month, reported a more than twofold rise in sales at its e-commerce business in the first quarter of 2020 as the virus outbreak and stay-at-home orders stoked a surge in online shopping.

The company, which use digital tools to close deals and home delivers vehicles to customers, said revenue for the first quarter ended March 31 jumped 60% from a year earlier, and net loss attributable to Vroom's common stockholders narrowed to nearly $41.1 million from $45.1 million.

Rival Carvana Co, which saw its stock plunge nearly 80% in a month, has recovered dramatically to be up 26% on-year as online car selling gains favor in the post-pandemic world.

Tech-driven insurance startup Lemonade Inc, which counts Japan's SoftBank Group Corp and Alphabet Inc's venture capital arm GV among its investors, also filed for a U.S. listing on Monday.

Vroom shares will list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "VRM" on Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, Allen & Co and Wells Fargo Securities were the joint lead bookrunners of the offering.

(Reuters)