Wednesday, June 29, 2011

HomeAway Surges 49 Percent In IPO Debut

Austin-based HomeAway, the vacation rental marketplace run by Brian Sharples, had a striking debut on the NASDAQ Global Market, surging 49 percent to close at $40.21 a share Wednesday, up significantly from the firm's $27.00 per share debut. The firm had already priced at the high end of its IPO estimates, which were $24.00 to $27.00 per share. The firm's was venture backed by Austin Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Technology Crossover Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, and Tiger Global Management. HomeAway's IPO is the latest in a string of IPOs for Texas technology firms; last week, Pasadena, Texas-based biofuels firm KIOR debuted on the NASDAW Global Select, Austin's Freescale had an IPO in late May, Houston's Rignet debuted in December; Austin's NetSpend in October; and RealPage had its IPO in August.