Box Eyes Another Private Cash Infusion Before It IPOs
The company is reportedly in talks with private equity firm TPG - whose portfolio includes Burger King, J. Crew, and SurveyMonkey - for a cash injection of approximately $100 million at the $2 billion valuation it reached during its last funding round in December.
"Our plan continues to be to go public when it makes the most sense for Box and the market," a Box spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal.
TPG, which counts itself as one of the largest private equity firms in the United States with over $50 billion under its management, has indicated that it would help Box delay its IPO if it chose to invest.
Without a TPG investment, Box is expected to IPO in July or August.
Box began the IPO process with a filing last March, only days before a precipitous drop among cloud storage stocks.
It's unclear why Box feels under pressure to collect more cash before going public. Considering the identical valuation, one wonders why TPG didn't invest last December.
It's uncommon for private investors to go in after a company has registered for an IPO. In 2012 and 2013, only 14 of 124 venture-backed companies recieved cash so late in the game.