Datto valuation tops $4bn after going public

The MSP vendor has raised over half a billion dollars in its New York public debut

Datto has raised $594m after going public, hitting a valuation of over $4bn.

The MSP-focused vendor's share price rose by 20 per cent on its first day of trading, before dropping back and ending around 4 per cent up on its IPO price.

Datto's founder and leadership team rang in the bell at the New York Stock Exchange earlier this morning.

The company sold 22 million shares with a value of $27 each; the upper part of the $24 to $27 range the vendor had forecast earlier in the week.

The Connecticut-based firm submitted its IPO application at the end of last month.

Datto posted on Twitter this afternoon scenes of Datto's founder, Austin McChord, and leadership team ringing the bell inside the New York Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile Forrester analyst Jay McBain posted his congratulations to Datto on Twitter.

"Congrats to Datto today for going public (MSP). A company started 13 years ago in Austin McChord's mother's basement piecing together hard drive enclosures. First unicorn in CT, acquired Autotask, and now a public company worth billions. One hundred per cent channel and one hundred per cent community grown!"

In the filing the vendor revealed a heavy burden on its balance sheet with debts in the region of $591.60m as of 30 June 2020.

Founded in 2007, the vendor focuses on managed services around security, data recovery and cloud backup for SMB players.

Its key backer is US private equity giant Vista Equity Partners.

In another SEC report filed last week, the vendor revealed that Vista, which holds a controlling stake, is the driving force behind Datto's move to go public.

Moving forwards, Vista will retain approval on Datto's board of directors, in addition to voting majority on business plans and future policy.

Datto's IPO was led by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp, Barclays Plc and Credit Suisse Group.