Digital marketing platform Ibotta launches IPO at a valuation of up to $2.7 billion

By Ciara Linnane

Walmart-backed company helps deliver promotions to customers through a network of publishers

Ibotta, a digital marketing platform that allows consumer packaged goods companies to offer promotions to customers through a network of publishers, launched its initial public offering on Monday with plans to offer 5.6 million shares priced at $76 to $84 each.

The company, which counts Walmart Inc. (WMT) and Dollar General Corp. (DG) as customers, would raise $470 million at the top of that range at a valuation of $2.6 billion.

The company is offering 2.5 million shares, while selling shareholders are offering the remaining 3.2 million. Ibotta (IBTA) will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling shareholders.

The company will have two classes of stock, Class A and Class B, with the latter carrying 20 votes and the former just one. Upon completion, the company's Founder, chief executive and president, Bryan Leach, and entities associated with him will own about 69.7% of voting rights.

The company has applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "IBTA." Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and BofA Securities are lead underwriters in a team of nine banks working on the deal.

In a letter from Leach included in the filing documents, he explains that Ibotta came into being when he saw a woman on a plane from Brazil take a picture of her receipts to submit her expenses for reimbursement.

"It made me think about the power of all the data contained on a receipt: detailed information about everything we buy, including the UPC, price, and quantity of every item in the basket, along with the date, time, retailer, and store location of purchase," he wrote.

That led him to consider what technology could do if it could harness that data and transform the way promotions and ads are delivered.

"In those musings lay the kernel of Ibotta ("I-bought-a"), which I hoped might one day help millions of consumers earn rewards for trying new brands, while at the same time reshaping the future of digital marketing," he wrote.

Ibotta had net income of $38.1 million in 2023, after a loss of $54.9 million in 2022. Revenue rose to $320.0 million from $210.7 million.

The deal comes at a time when the Renaissance IPO ETF IPO is up 43% over the last 12 months, outperforming the S&P 500's SPX 7% gain.

-Ciara Linnane

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04-08-24 0735ET

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