Unity Software IPO prices high as firm raises £1.01 billion

The 3D software firm sold 25 million shares at £40.26 each, which was above the revised price range of £34.06-£37.16 per share

Unity Software Inc on Thursday sold shares in its New York initial public offering (IPO) above its target range to raise £1.01 billion ($1.3 billion), the company said.

It is the second $1 billion-plus U.S. software IPO this week to price above its targeted range after data warehouse company Snowflake Inc raised more than £2.32 billion ($3 billion) in the largest U.S. listing of the year so far.

Snowflake's shares more than doubled in their New York Stock Exchange debut the following day.

Unity, which develops software used to design video games, sold 25 million shares at £40.26 ($52) apiece, the company said, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

This was above the £34.06-£37.16 ($44-$48) per share price range which the company on Monday revised upwards from its initial target of £26.32-£32.52 ($34-$42) per share.

The IPO values Unity at £10.61 billion ($13.7 billion). Unity is due to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday under the symbol "U".

The Unity IPO was novel in that Unity's lead underwriting banks, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Credit Suisse Group, used an online system to take indications of interest from investors, with the aim of getting a more accurate gauge of demand. Orders for an IPO are typically made over the phone.

Unity's software platform is widely used by game developers, artists, architects, filmmakers and others to create, run and monetize interactive 3D content.

The company reported a net loss of £126.35 million ($163.2 million) for 2019, compared with a net loss of £101.89 million ($131.6 million) a year earlier. Revenue jumped about 42% to £419.46 million ($541.8 million) during the same period.

Sequoia Capital is Unity's largest shareholder with a 24.1% stake, while private equity firm Silver Lake owns an 18.2% holding.