Prices, details and dates are not yet disclosed, although the estimated value (used solely to calculate the SEC’s registration fee) is $100m. The final size of the IPO could be very different. The Prospectus is also not yet available, but will be available from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC.
Qualys was founded in 1999 by current CEO Philippe Courtot. It is a cloud security and compliance company with strategic relationships with companies such as BT, Dell SecureWorks, Fujitsu, IBM, NTT, Symantec, Verizon, and Wipro. It is also a founding member of the Cloud Security Alliance.
The registration documents claim more than 500m ‘scans and maps performed yearly’ for 5700 global customers in more than 100 different countries, ‘with only 300+ employees’.
Qualys is currently approximately 40% owned by Courtot, with venture capital firm Trident Capital owning a further 27.4%. Courtot is often described as a ‘serial entrepreneur’ with a history of growing small start-ups into multi-million dollar companies. The company is not commenting. There is speculation as to whether Courtot will use the money raised to further grow Qualys, or to start or fund a new project. Few expect him to retire just yet.