July 22, 2004 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Blackbaud, a Charleston, S.C., company that produces fund-raising, accounting, and school-administration software, plans to sell 9.1 million shares of common stock in its initial public offering, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 1. The company estimates that the offering could bring in more than $100-million.
Blackbaud will be the second technology company focusing on the nonprofit world to make an initial public offering in the last 12 months. Kintera, a San Diego company that leases software to nonprofit organizations to help them raise money online, held its initial public offering at the end of last year (The Chronicle, December 11, 2003).
Blackbaud anticipates that the initial-public-offering price will be between $10 and $12 per share. The company has applied for a listing of its stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol “BLKB.”
The proceeds from the sale of shares in this offering will not go to the company, but to the stockholders selling shares. Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners, the San Francisco investment firm that bought a majority stake in the company from its founder, Anthony E. Bakker, in 1999, plans to sell nearly 4.3 million shares, which at a share price of $11 would be worth more than $47.2-million. The company’s chief executive officer, Robert J. Sywolski, plans to sell 484,242 shares, which at $11 per share would be worth more than $5.3-million.
In the documents filed with the SEC, Blackbaud reported a $4-million profit in the first quarter of 2004 on $31.4-million in sales, compared with a loss of $51,000 during the same period in 2003 on $27.3-million in sales.
Over all, the company reported a loss of $478,000 in 2003, compared with profits of $15.6-million in 2002 and $8.9-million in 2001.
The company attributed the loss in part to $27.5-million in compensation expenses it recorded in 2003 related to employee stock options.
Blackbaud’s total revenue climbed from $90-million in 2001 to $105.2-million in 2002 and $118.1-million in 2003. In 2003, the company’s international operations generated revenue of approximately $10.7-million, up from $6-million in 2002.
