Monday, February 1, 2021

Viant Launches IPO

Irvine-based Viant Technology, a developer of advertising software, says it has launched an IPO, intending to sell 7,500,000 shares of its Class A common stock in an offering on the Nasdaq Global Market as DSP. The IPO will raise as much as $181M for Viant. The company has given an estimated offering range of between $19.00 and $21.00 per share. Viant is led by technology veteran Tim Vanderhook, who founded Viant with brothers Chris and Russ. The company's long history--it was founded in 1999--includes the acquisition of MySpace in 2011, a 60% acquisition by Time Inc. in 2018, and the acquisition of Adelphic in 2017. Viant is 60% owned by Four Brothers 2 LLC, which is split evenly between Tim, Chris, and Russ Vanderhook. The IPO is being underwritten by BofA Securities and UBS Investment Bank, along with Canaccord Genuity, JMP Securities, Needham & Company and Raymond James. Viant got its start as Specific Media.

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