UiPath sets IPO valuation at USD 29 bln, CEO Daniel Dines officially becomes the richest Romanian

UiPath, the biggest robotic processing automation (RPA) company in the world, launched by two Romanian entrepreneurs in Bucharest in 2005, has set a price of USD 56 per share for its initial public offering (IPO), according to an official announcement.

The total number of shares sold in the IPO is 23.89 million, which places the total value of the deal at over USD 1.33 bln. The company’s valuation was thus set at USD 29 bln. UiPath’s shares will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Today (April 21) under the ticket PATH.

The company will sell 9.41 mln new shares in the IPO, for which it will get USD 527 mln. Existing shareholders, including co-founder and CEO Daniel Dines, will sell another 14.47 mln shares worth USD 810 mln. In addition, UiPath has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 3.58 million additional shares of Class A common stock at the IPO price.

Daniel Dines will sell about 1.38 million UiPath shares in the IPO, for which he will get USD 77 mln. After the IPO, he will still hold 109.5 mln UiPath class A and Class B shares, worth USD 6.1 bln (at the IPO price). Dines thus officially becomes the richest Romanian. Currently, former tennis player Ion Tiriac (81) is the only Romanian in the Forbes list of the world's billionaires, with a fortune of USD 1.7 bln.

UiPath filed the documentation for its NYSE IPO at the end of March. In mid-April, the company announced a price range of USD 43-50 per share for its IPO, which implied a valuation of up to USD 26 bln. A few days later, the company increased the price range to USD 52-54 per share and the number of shares it planned to sell in the IPO from 6.8 mln to 9.4 mln.

The company was most recently valued at USD 35 billion in the latest funding round earlier this year. In the financial year ended in January 2021, UiPath recorded annualized recurring revenues (ARR) of USD 580 mln, up by 65% compared to the previous year, and a net loss of USD 92 mln, down from USD 520 mln in the previous year.

Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan are the lead bookrunners for UiPath's IPO. BofA Securities, Credit Suisse, Barclays, and Wells Fargo Securities are active bookrunners while SMBC Nikko, BMO Capital Markets, Mizuho Securities, KeyBanc Capital Markets, TD Securities, Truist Securities, Cowen, Evercore ISI, Macquarie Capital, Nomura, and RBC Capital Markets are passive bookrunners. Canaccord Genuity, D.A. Davidson & Co., Oppenheimer & Co., and Needham & Company are co-managers for the offering.

(Photo source: UiPath Facebook page)