YNOT – FriendFinder Networks Inc. on Tuesday commenced marketing of its long-planned initial public stock offering. According to an amended S-1 registration statement filed Jan. 8 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the IPO is expected make available 20 million shares of common stock at an estimated per-share price of $10-$12.Gross proceeds from the IPO are expected to produce about $200 million to $240 million, slightly more than half of the $460 million the company predicted when it announced the IPO one year ago.
If the IPO is successful, FFN will become one of the few publicly held pornography companies worldwide. Although FFN markets itself as a “social networking and multimedia entertainment company,” the corporation’s primary operating units in the past and at present — including the Penthouse family of companies and “adult dating” websites like AdultFriendFinder.com — are firmly rooted in the adult entertainment realm.
In fact, for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2009, FFN’s adult social networking websites boasted just short of 869,000 members while its “general audience” sites boasted slightly more than 54,000 subscribers. Average lifetime net revenue per adult subscriber was about 30 percent more than per “mainstream” member.
The company’s financials indicate 2009’s subscriber base showed a bit of a decline, but FFN still managed to bring in about $244 million during the first nine months of last year.
FFN’s goal for the IPO funds remains unchanged. The company wants to pay down the approximately $433 million outstanding on the debt it incurred in 2007 when it purchased AdultFriendFinder.com parent Various Inc. for $500 million. FFN’s financials indicate it paid approximately $75 million in interest on the note during the first nine months of 2009.
The common stock has been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FFN,” subject to official notice of issuance. Underwriters, led by RenCap and Ledgemont Capital Markets, have an option to buy about 3 million shares.
The amended S-1 filing may be viewed here.
