ZoomInfo just went public. No, not that Zoom
ZoomInfo is a business-to-business database software firm founded in 2000, 11 years before Eric Yuan started Zoom Video.
On Thursday, ZoomInfo went public, selling 44.5 million shares at a price of $21. The nearly $1 billion deal makes this the largest tech initial public offering of 2020.
Shares of ZoomInfo, which is backed by private equity giant Carlyle Group (CG), nearly doubled to $40 once they began trading before pulling back to finish the day with a 62% gain. The company’s sales surged last year but losses mounted — which is often the case for tech companies going public.
The strong debut for ZoomInfo is the latest sign that the IPO market, much like the rest of Wall Street, is enjoying a huge comeback in recent months after stocks plunged in March due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Hopefully, investors realize that ZoomInfo is not Zoom Video — which is one the biggest Wall Street success stories of 2020.
Earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission briefly suspended trading of a tiny Chinese company named Zoom Technologies because it appeared some investors were mistaking it with Zoom Video. The Chinese company had been trading under the ticker of ZOOM but has since changed it to ZTNO.
No company has the ticker symbol “ZOOM.”
Shares of Zoom Video (ZM)have surged more than 200% this year as many businesses, consumers and even schoolkids have been using the popular group video chat service to stay in touch with colleagues, friends and family during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Zoom Video reported strong growth in revenue and users earlier this week.