VC-backed Newegg files for IPO

Newegg Inc., a City of Industry, Calif.-based venture-capital backed online retailer of computer hardware and software, plans to raise up to $175 million in an initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing.

The e-commerce company, which runs the www.newegg.com website, said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has been profitable every year since 2001 and generated sales of $2.1 billion in 2008. Its IPO filing came a few days after a smash hit by A123 Systems on Sept. 24. The VC-backed battery maker saw its shares leap 50% in its first day of trading, the second-best performance for a debut stock in 2009.

Newegg said in its filing that it expects to face increased competition from other e-commerce sites, pointing to Circuit City Stores Inc., the electronics retailer that went bankrupt last year, but whose web ste is still active.

Newegg’s largest shareholder is New York-based venture firm Insight Venture Partners, whose portfolio also includes software maker Medidata Solutions Inc., which went public in April. Insight Venture Partners holds a 12.7% pre-IPO position in Newegg, based on a $20 million investment in 2005, according to Thomson Reuters (publisher of PE Week).

Newegg plans to use the IPO’s proceeds in part to expand operations in China and Canada. Its prospectus did not set the terms or expected timing of the IPO. —Phil Wahba, Reuters