GoPro Inc. selling $US800 million of stock to raise capital

GoPro Inc’s CEO, Nicholas Woodman, is going to be selling part of his stake in the company as part of a $800 million offering of the company’s shares.

The company officially filed to sell $800 million of stock on Monday morning.

GoPro Inc. will be offering Class A common shares in the next couple of weeks, according to a company spokesman.

Mr. Woodman sent an email to employees to provide information on why the company is selling stock:

“I plan to sell a portion of my holdings in GoPro, but no one should misunderstand my commitment to the company or our vision,” Woodman wrote. “As I told investors on our earnings call last week, I plan to be a significant shareholder in GoPro for a long time. I’m a huge believer in our vision and our ability to realize it.”

GoPro sold 17.8 million Class A shares in June when it launched its initial public offering, excluding over-allotment options. The company’s stock has tripled since it went public.

Woodman outlined GoPro’s two main goals with the offering, which are to raise $100 million of new capital and to facilitate a more orderly sale of stock at the end of its lock-up expiration.

After a company goes public there is a period of around 6 months in which company insiders cannot sell shares.

Mr Woodman holding the GoPro Hero 4 device.

Below is the email that Woodman sent to GoPro Inc. employees:

“This morning, GoPro filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission outlining our plans to conduct a ‘follow-on and secondary’ offering of our stock. This is a relatively common occurrence following an IPO – it allows the company to raise additional capital while providing our early investors and employees with vested options the opportunity to realize a return on their hard work and dedication to GoPro.

While all permanent, full-time employees receive equity compensation, only those holding vested options and shares can participate in this particular event.

This follow-on offering provides two key benefits:

First, we expect to raise approximately $100 million of new capital for the company which will provide us with additional resources to invest in people, products, potential acquisitions, and infrastructure to help us achieve our long-term vision.

Second, this offering is intended to facilitate a more orderly and gradual sale of shares than what might otherwise occur when the IPO lock-up ends on December 22. Our goal is to reduce the impact that the IPO lock-up expiration may have on our stock price. To help further this goal, larger shareholders that participate in this offering will be signing a new 90-day lock-up agreement.

I plan to sell a portion of my holdings in GoPro, but no one should misunderstand my commitment to the company or our vision. As I told investors on our earnings call last week, I plan to be a significant shareholder in GoPro for a long time. I’m a huge believer in our vision and our ability to realize it.

Thanks for continuing to make our vision for GoPro a reality, team. The passion, experience and execution that we bring to work is what makes all of this possible. It’s the reason why the world believes in us. I’m throwing out a huge hug, Hi5 and thank you for making GoPro the incredible company that it is.”