Bloomberg, By - Mar 30, 2011 12:21 PM PT
Zipcar Inc., the car-sharing company that rents vehicles by the hour, said it will seek to raise as much as $133 million in its initial public offering.
The company, which has yet to post a profit since it was founded in 2000, is offering 8.33 million shares for $14 to $16 each, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Zipcar said in a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Proceeds will be used to reduce debt and for business expansion, the filing showed.
IPOs in the U.S. this year have raised more than triple the amount in the first quarter of 2010. Four companies planned to complete initial offerings in the U.S. this week, the biggest weekly number of deals since the March 11 earthquake in Japan caused global markets to slump and threatened a recovery in new share issues.
Zipcar’s net loss in the 12 months through December widened to $14.1 million from $4.67 million a year earlier, the filing showed. Revenue increased 42 percent to $186.1 million in the same period.
The company operates in 14 metropolitan areas, including London, and has more than 8,000 cars. It plans to expand in the U.S. and international markets including Europe, according to the filing.
Zipcar is selling 6.67 million shares in the offering, while the remaining 1.67 million will come from existing shareholders, according to the filing. The underwriters may exercise an overallotment option to buy an additional 1.25 million shares.
The offering is being led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)The shares will be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ZIP. Previously, the company filed for an IPO of as much as $75 million.
EHi Car Rental, a car-sharing network in China that Goldman Sachs owns a stake in, is considering starting an IPO in New York as early as this year, two people with knowledge of the situation said today. Shanghai-based EHi hasn’t yet hired banks for the offering, one of the people said.