Aliso Viejo-based UST Global Inc. could be the next Orange County tech company to go public.
It appears the information technology services provider is seriously exploring an initial public offering, given the requirements laid out in a recent job opening posted on the company’s LinkedIn page.
UST is seeking to hire a vice president of finance with “IPO experience” and a track record of working with a “stock exchange” and “analysts.”
The company this year hit No. 17 on the Business Journal’s largest private companies list with revenue of $800 million in 2014. Chief Executive Sajan Pillai said in a February interview that he expects sales to grow at a 23% clip this year to nearly $1 billion through the company’s 128 Fortune 500 customers.
UST has about 100 employees in Orange County out of about 15,000 overall, including some 8,000 in India and about 1,000 each in Mexico and Costa Rica.
It declined to comment on a possible IPO.
The job posting could lead to a similar tack taken by Vizio Inc., which is seeking to go public. The Business Journal in February reported the privately held consumer electronics brand was seeking an in-house attorney with experience in pre-IPO activities and drafting Securities Act and Securities Exchange Act filings, including registration statements, periodic reports, proxy statements and Section 16 reports. The company five months later filed a registration statement with the SEC to raise up to $172.5 million in an IPO.
Vizio hasn’t released a date on the offering.
Stronger Silicon Valley Ties
Irvine-based analytics software maker Alteryx Inc. gained a lot more than $85 million in its latest VC round, which was led by Iconiq Capital in San Francisco and prior backer Insight Venture Partners in New York.
Iconiq has one of the deepest financial presences in Silicon Valley, managing the fortunes of tech A-listers, such as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, as well as Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Iconiq, which disclosed its U.S. holdings at $560 million in the June quarter in such companies as Alibaba, BP, Facebook, Tesla, and Wayfair, is believed to manage well over $1 billion in assets.
Its latest bet on Alteryx has fueled one of the hottest tech sectors primed for growth in the coming years.
U.K.-based Pringle & Co. forecasts the business intelligence and software services segment will hit $143 billion by next year, up from $76 billion in 2012.
“They see the market the way we see it,” said Alteryx Chief Executive Dean Stoecker.
The company in the past year has doubled its customer base to about 1,000 companies, which pay a subscription fee for its analytics software to integrate data, monetize content, forecast sales, map out retail expansion plans, and compare sales and product placement, among other features.
It’s raised $163 million to date.
Bits & Pieces
Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp., which is set to be acquired for $37 billion by Avago Technologies Ltd. in Singapore, has joined a group that includes Comcast, Google and Microsoft in urging the Federal Communications Commission to adopt its standards in the use of LTE networks in unlicensed spectrum. The group is at odds with Qualcomm, Samsung, Verizon, AT&T and others that have developed separate standards. … Laguna Beach-based NextVR Inc. produced the first public 360-degree live-stream sports event in virtual reality late last month for the Golden State Warriors’ ring ceremony and game against the New Orleans Pelicans. NextVR investor and advisory committee chair Peter Guber is part owner of the Warriors and Los Angeles Dodgers.
