Professional social network Viadeo announced last week that it would set its initial public offering at the low-end of its previously announced IPO range, 17.10 to 20.90 euros. Shares are set to start trading this week on the Paris Euronext, where Viadeo is set to be one of the largest IPO’s since real-estate website SeLoger.com IPO in 2006.
Despite raising capital from Chinese investors last month, Viadeo’s IPO terms underscore the trouble its had convincing media & investors of its IPO plans. Shortly after its IPO plans were announced, JournalDuNet ran a story shedding light on Viadeo’s astonishing metrics:
- 95% of their revenue comes from France
- 20 Million registered users in China, but 0 revenue.
- Their quarterly revenue numbers shrunk 4% in Q1 2014
- The 2 cofounders, Dan Serfaty & Thierry Lunati, earned a combined €1.2 Million in revenue last year, including consulting services billed to the company outside of their respective 6-figure salaries
Viadeo faces increased competition in France, where LinkedIn has outpaced Viadeo in terms of growth, and in China, where LinkedIn only recently began actively pursuing growth. Only time will tell how the public market will support Viadeo; however, it feels much more like investors offloading their investment onto the public market than a real search for growth through investment.