Double-Take, VMware Adjust Plans

Double-Take and VMware have added flesh to the bones of their IPO plans, looking to raise around a billion dollars in imminent public offerings.

Replication specialist Double-Take announced pricing for its secondary IPO this morning, setting its share price at $16, while VMware has upped the ante for its own much-anticipated offering, which is expected early next week. (See Double-Take Prices Shares and VMware Files With SEC.)

Double-Take's secondary offering, which will close next Wednesday, follows an IPO back in December, which raised around $55 million. (See Double-Take, Isilon Go Public and Double-Take Seeks IPO.)

Thomas Weisel Partners and Cowen and Company are acting as joint book-running managers for Double-Take's secondary IPO, with CIBC World Markets Corp., Needham & Company, Canaccord Adams. and JMP Securities acting as co-managers.

Double-Take is selling 100,000 shares and stockholders are selling 2,690,000, according to documents filed with the SEC this morning.The follow-up offering is expected to raise a total of $44.6 million, although the bulk of this money will go to the selling stockholders. These include venture capital firm ABS Capital Partners, Double-Take board directors Ashoke Goswami and Laura Witt, and Michael Lesh, the vendor's vice president of professional services and support.

When the offering closes, total net proceeds to Double-Take are expected to be around $1 million, after underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses. The regulatory documents say that this money will be used for working capital.

Both Double-Take and VMware's IPOs come at a time of heightened tension in the financial markets. Wall Street plummeted yesterday after French bank BNP Paribas froze the assets of three funds that invested in U.S. mortgages. Set against this backdrop, the Dow Jones had one of its worst days in 2007, falling more than 380 points.

VMware nonetheless amended its own IPO prospectus yesterday, raising its share price to between $27 and $29 from its original $23 to $25 range. (See VMware: The Charging Bellwether, EMC Offers 10% of VMware, and EMC Still Rules VMware.)

The virtualization giant is now looking to raise upwards of $900 million through its IPO, compared to its initial estimate of $741.4 million. (See VMware Closer to IPO and VMware Stirs Virtual Controversy.)At least one analyst warns that the current financial climate is a tough one for public offerings. "It's treacherous and dangerous," says Scott Sweet, senior managing partner of financial analyst firm IPOBoutique, explaining that, of 14 IPOs scheduled for this week, more than a quarter did not happen.

The analyst nonetheless expects a frenzy of activity when VMware's IPO finally happens next week. "I have not seen a deal with this much hype since the years of 1999 and 2000 -- I expect a monstrous opening," he says, adding that this could even double VMware's initial price.

Recent months have seen a flurry of storage-related IPOs, although VMware's offering has attracted attention thanks to its early mover advantage in the explosive virtualization arena. (See VMware IPO in the Offing, Storage Virtualization Edges On, IOV: The Final Frontier of Server Virtualization , and Storage Funding Finds Its Feet.)

In addition to Double-Take and VMware, other vendors hitting the IPO path include Voltaire, BladeLogic, Data Domain, and Compellent. (See Voltaire Strikes IPO, BladeLogic Announces IPO Pricing, Data Domain Closes IPO, and Compellent Preps for IPO .)

James Rogers, Senior Editor Byte and Switch