Norwalk-based technology company Datto Inc., which provides cloud-based backup software for businesses, has filed to become a public company.
Datto filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission on Tuesday to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering.
The company, which has 1,600 employees and posted revenues of $458.8 million last year, said it plans to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “MSP.”
The number of shares and the price range for the offering have yet to be determined.
While Datto set a placeholder of $100 million in the SEC filing, research firm Renaissance Capital said in a report Tuesday that the IPO could raise as much as $400 million.
Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Barclays and Credit Suisse are acting as lead book-running managers for the offering.
Founded in 2007, Datto became Connecticut’s first unicorn in 2015, a name given to a private company valued at over $1 billion, the Hartford Courant reported.
Norwalk resident and former CEO Austin McChord founded the company as a data backup and disaster recovery startup after creating a backup device in his parents’ basement, according to the Datto website.
It was bought by private equity and venture capital firm Vista Equity Partners in 2017. McChord stepped down in 2018 but remains on the board.
The company says it now has 20 locations and provides cloud-based software and technology solutions to more than 1 million small and medium-sized businesses around the globe through its 1,700 managed service provider (MSP) partners.
In a letter included with the filing, CEO Tim Weller said that while the company experienced a minor disruption in operations from COVID-19, “current global events have only intensified urgency, complexity and competition for technology expertise.”
“[Small and medium-sized businesses] are turning in increasing numbers to MSPs to access and manage key technologies that were once only available to larger enterprises,” he wrote.
Tuesday’s filing was not a surprise. Bloomberg reported in July that the company had filed confidentially for the IPO, citing unnamed sources.
Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com
