Vonage IPO on the Way

After raising more than $400-million in private equity, Vonage's IPO (is its still much-anticipated??) is on the way after Light Reading reported yesterday the lead underwriters have been selected – Citibank, UBS AG, and Deutsche Bank AG. The big question is how much Vonage is worth. The figure $1.5-billion has been frequently cited (the methodology, however, has never been spelled out), while Charlie Lax, managing general partner with GrandBanks Captial, was bubbling about a $10-billion valuation at Fall VON last week. If anything, the Vonage IPO should set a pretty good valuation benchmarket for the VOIP industry. If the IPO is well-received, the rising tide could lift all ships and make it easeier for other VOIP companies to follow in Vonage's wake. If, for whatever reason, investors are less than enthusiastic about the offering, it could put a dark cloud over the industry while making Skype's  investors look like geniuses for getting out while the going was good.