Maplebear Inc. said late Monday that it priced the upcoming Nasdaq IPO of its online grocery business, Instacart, with a value of around $10 billion.
Maplebear said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it sold 22 million shares at $30 each, the higher-end of its target range and a level that would value the San Francisco-based group at around $9.9 billion.
The IPO price raises around $660 million, although two-thirds of that total, however, is likely to come from so-called 'cornerstone' investors such as Norges Bank Investment Management, Sequoia Capital and D1 Capital Partners.
The $9.9 billion valuation, however, is a near 75% haircut to the price tag it earned through its last private fundraising in March of 2021, when at-home shopping tied to the Covid pandemic placed its value at around $39 billion.
"We fear that Instacart’s IPO is simply another in a long line that missed the window to go public during the IPO frenzy in 2021. Its owners have been waiting ever since for the right opportunity to cash in and flee public markets," said David Trainer, CEO of Nashville-based investment research firm New Constructs. "While the time might be right for Instacart’s owners to cash in, it’s not the right time for everyday investors to go anywhere near this stock. Investors should feel absolutely no pressure to succumb to this IPO hype."
Instacart boosted the prices of its listing late last week following the successful debut of U.K. based chip designer ARM Holdings, which listed on the Nasdaq at $51 per share before rising nearly 25% on its opening day of trading.
Instacart shares will being trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market today, under the ticker symbol 'CART',
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