CarGurus, a Profitable Tech Company, Aims to Raise $162M in IPO

Nasdaq Tower Nasdaq (Used with Permission Copyright 2014 NASDAQ OMX Group)

CarGurus is moving closer to becoming the Boston area’s first tech IPO of 2017.

The Cambridge, MA-based firm aims to raise as much as $162.15 million in its initial public offering, according to a document filed with the SEC late last week. That would value CarGurus—which operates an online marketplace for buying and selling new and used cars—at up to $1.54 billion, the Boston Business Journal reported. CarGurus intends to sell up to 10.81 million shares at a price of $13 to $15 per share, according to the SEC filing.

If CarGurus follows through with its IPO plans, founder and CEO Langley Steinert would control an estimated 53 percent of the voting power of the company’s outstanding stock.

Steinert, a co-founder of online travel company TripAdvisor (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TRIP]]), started CarGurus in 2006. The company is profitable and generated $198.1 million in revenue last year, according to SEC filings.

Click here to read more about CarGurus and the broader tech IPO market.

Author: Jeff Bauter Engel

Jeff, a former Xconomy editor, joined Xconomy from The Milwaukee Business Journal, where he covered manufacturing and technology and wrote about companies including Johnson Controls, Harley-Davidson and MillerCoors. He previously worked as the business and healthcare reporter for the Marshfield News-Herald in central Wisconsin. He graduated from Marquette University with a bachelor degree in journalism and Spanish. At Marquette he was an award-winning reporter and editor with The Marquette Tribune, the student newspaper. During college he also was a reporter intern for the Muskegon Chronicle and Grand Rapids Press in west Michigan.