UPDATED 14:39 EDT / SEPTEMBER 17 2013

Life Sciences Software Company Veeva Files for IPO

After months of speculation, Veeva has finally confirmed that it’s headed for a stock market debut. The Pleasanton, California-based company hired Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank as lead underwriters, and signed up Pacific Crest Securities, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, BMO Capital Markets, and Canaccord Genuit as co-managers.

Veeva is an emerging cloud service provider that offers account managment solutions for sales teams in the pharmaceutical industry. Founded in 2007, the firm has over 150 customers around the world, including Merck, Eli Lilly and biotech titan Gilead Sciences. In stark contrast to competitors like Oracle, the company’s offering is based entirely on the Salesforce.com CRM platform.

According to an SEC filing, Veeva recorded a profit of $18.8 million on sales of $129.5 million in the fiscal year ending January 31. The company said that it plans to raise as much as $150 million through the IPO, which is expected to come in the third quarter, but it didn’t disclose an anticipated stock price or the number of shares it expects to sell. Sources with insider knowledge told Bloomberg that the firm is seeking a valuation of about $2 billion.

Veela is the second tech titan to have announced plans for an IPO in recent days. The other is Twitter, which named Goldman Sachs as the lead underwriter for an upcoming offering that could propel its valuation above $20 billion. Details are scarce, but the fact that the microblogging giant has not made its S-11 filing public confirms that it has yet to reach $1 billion in annual revenue.

For end-users, the Twitter IPO will almost certainly translate into an influx of targeted ads. The company will face new pressure to monetize its platform, but it will also continue to ensure that advertisements are as non-intrusive as possible.


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