Citing unfavorable market conditions, Convio Inc. is withdrawing its bid to go public.
The Austin provider of software and Web services for nonprofits filed its IPO request with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 30, 2007. The company said at the time it hoped to raise $86 million through the offering. But yesterday Convio asked the SEC to withdraw its registration statement.
CEO Gene Austin says going public is still in Convio's future, but he says it's a matter of timing.
"We strongly believe in the philosophy that good companies don't go public in bad markets," says Austin. "Bottom line, it wasn't the right business decision for us to go public at this time given the state of the financial markets. With our record quarter, cash flow and having reached profitability we do not need to be public."
Convio logged revenue of $14.7 million in the second quarter, up 35 percent from the year-ago quarter. The company lost $893,000, compared with a loss of $2.1 million in the second quarter of 2007. Excluding compensation charges and costs associated with its acquisition of GetActive Software Inc., Convio made $114,000 in the second quarter compared with a loss of $1.4 million a year ago.
Convio says it had nearly $13.2 million in cash and equivalents at the end of the second quarter.
The company's products are being used by 26 of the top 50 nonprofits, ranked by funds raised. Convio employs about 225 people in the Austin area and 340 altogether.