Business software maker Atlassian's shares soar in market debut

Mike Cannon-Brookes (C), co-founder and CEO of Atlassian Software Systems, and Scott Farquhar (3rd L), co-founder and CEO of Atlassian Software Systems, smile during it's opening PO at the Nasdaq at a MarketSite in New York, December 10, 2015.

 

 

 

Mike Cannon-Brookes (C) and Scott Farquhar (centre, L), co-founders and CEO's of Atlassian Software Systems smile during its opening public offering (PO) at the Nasdaq at a MarketSite in New York December 10, 2015.

Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

 

Shares of Australian business software maker Atlassian Corp Plc soared as much as 33.3 percent in their market debut on Thursday, valuing the company at about $5.85 billion in one of the most highly valued initial public offerings of the year.Atlassian's strong debut signals to investors that among the crop of 145 tech unicorns - venture-backed private companies worth $1 billion or more - there are still some that are not overvalued.
The company's IPO raised $462 million after the shares were priced at $21 each, above the expected range of $19-$20.
The stock hit a high of $28.05 in
early trading.
Sydney-based Atlassian, which makes collaboration and management software, was valued at $3.3 billion in its last private valuation.
The company has about 51,000 customers in more than 160 countries, including NASA, Tesla Motors and the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Atlassian joins online dating company Match Group Inc and mobile payments firm Square Inc, which also popped on their first day of trading despite overall negative sentiment for Silicon Valley startups and a broadly weak IPO market.
Several tech IPOs have performed poorly over the past year, and mutual fund investors including Fidelity Investments have been marking down the value of their private tech holdings.
Improving IPO market sentiment is especially critical now that calls are growing for unicorns lingering in the frothy private market to go public.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriters for the offering.
(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)