Pandora opens trading at US$20 per share


15 Jun 2011

US-based music streaming service Pandora started trading on the New York Stock Exchange today, opening at US$20 a share which valued it at US$3.2bn.

According to TechCrunch, shares rose up to US$25 each within minutes of trading, valuing the company at US$4bn.

Pandora, which will be trading under the symbol ‘P,’ has managed to raise US$235m in its IPO. Some 14.7m shares of common stock are on offer – 6m shares are from Pandora and 8.7m are from selling stockholders.

Underwriters have been granted a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2.2m shares to cover over-allotments.

Pandora released its financial details in its most recent SEC filing for Q1 of 2011 a few weeks ago. It experienced revenue of US$51m, up 131pc from the previous year.

The music streaming service, which is currently unavailable outside the US, has 94m registered users and 34m active users, a substantial increase from 2010.

However, the company has yet to make a profit.

Pandora is the latest web company to file for an IPO. LinkedIn opened trading with shares rising above US$80 each, valuing the business social network at US$4bn. Shares are at US$74.35 each at the time of writing.

Facebook appears to be getting ready to file documents with the SEC and it is likely to get a valuation of US$100bn.