Mark Evans

Vonage's IPO Sales Job Hits Stride

Looks like the job of selling Vonage's IPO has began in earnest amid reports (Light Reading)
the company has been approached with several takeover bids in the past
two weeks - one of them was apparently worth more than $1.5-billion. To
be honest, it's difficult to get a handle on whether these rumors -
conveniently leaked by “sources” as Vonage pursues an IPO or an
outright sale - are accurate. The notion of Vonage doing an IPO has
been out in the market so long, you why it hasn't happened yet and
whether Vonage can get anywhere near the price that its investors
($400-million of VC) want. If Skype, which has no physical assets and
no competitive advantage other than 54 million registered users, can be
sold for as much as $4.1 billion, why can't Vonage find a suitor?
Perhaps all the interested parties are sitting on the sidelines waiting
for someone to make the first move. Maybe this is an eBay-like process
where the real bids for Vonage won't appear until the last minute. In
any event, I'm willing to bet Vonage's investment bankers - Citibank,
UBS, Deutsche Bank - are anxiously trying to sell this IPO/deal.
If it means leaking “takeover offers” so be it. Om Malik wonders if the Vonage IPO is not going as well as people originally thought, while Andy Abramson raises some concerns about Vonage's high churn rate and wonders if the company is anything more than just a good marketer.