VC-backed Criteo files for $190m IPO

Ellie Pullen
19 September 2013

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Criteo, a French advertisement targeting solutions provider for e-commerce sites backed by a number of venture capital firms, has filed for its IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The company hopes to raise up to $190m on Nasdaq, it stated in the preliminary prospectus filed with the SEC. Criteo has not stated how many American depository shares (ADS), representing ordinary Criteo shares, it intends to sell in the IPO, nor does it indicate the price per share the company will offer.

JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank Securities and Jefferies are listed in the SEC filing as the lead underwriters for the flotation. Criteo intends to list its shares on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "CRTO".

The company is backed by several venture capital investors, namely Index Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Elaia Partners and Idinvest Partners. Index is Criteo's largest shareholder, having a 23.4% stake in the company, while Idinvest holds 22.6%, Elaia Partners 13.5% and Bessemer 9.5%.

Criteo's series-A funding round took place in March 2006 and saw Elaia and Idinvest inject €3m into the business. Idinvest contributed €1.8m to the round with Elaia making up the balance, according to unquote" data.

In December 2007, Index joined Elaia and Idinvest in Criteo's series-B funding round, investing €7m in the company. According to the SEC filing, Index invested via its €350m Index Ventures IV fund, which held its final close in February 2007.

Criteo's third funding round saw Bessemer lead a $7m (€5.3m) series-C in April 2010. This was followed by the company's series-D round in October 2012, which saw Bessemer contribute additional capital alongside the round's equity lead, Softbank Corporation, as well as Adams Street Partners, SAP Ventures and Yahoo Japan. Collectively, the consortium invested €30m in Criteo in its series-D.

The company's SEC filing for its potential IPO also states that a new €8m loan facility was supplied to Criteo by Le Credit Lyonnais (LCL) in June this year. According to the filing, the LCL loan carries a fixed interest rate of 2.3% per year and is due to mature in June 2016.

Founded in 2005, Criteo is headquartered in Paris with 14 additional offices worldwide, including in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, as well as four in the US. The company employs approximately 800 staff and recorded turnover of €271.9m in 2012, as well as an EBITDA of €17.4m. Turnover and EBITDA for the six months ending June 2013 reached €194.3m and €5.2m respectively.

Criteo is an advertisement targeting company that prices and supplies personalised advertising in real-time for its e-commerce client base. The company uses predictive software algorithms that allow it to leverage the data of e-commerce sites to make advertisement placement decisions based on website activity. The company has partnerships with more than 4,000 clients.

Criteo was founded by CEO Jean-Baptiste Rudelle, chief scientist Franck le Ouay and CTO Romain Niccoli. The company's board of directors comprises Bessemer partner Byron Deeter, Elaia partner Marie Ekeland, Idinvest managing partner Benoist Grossmann, and Index partner Dominique Vidal.