Charleston, S.C. (March 11, 2004) -- Software maker Blackbaud, which revealed its plans to go public, reported sales of $118.1 million for the year ended Dec. 31.
The company made its numbers public for the first time with its filing of an S-1 registration in preparation for an initial public offering. Revenue for the company, which makes fund-raising and not-for-profit accounting software, was up 12.2 percent from the prior year. However, Blackbaud ended a string of five profitable years as it lost $478,000 in 2003, triggered by a stock option recognition expense of $23.7 million. The company had $15.6 million in net earnings the prior year.
The maximum value of the offering has been set at $115 million. The number of shares to be offered, all by selling shareholders, hasn't been determined, nor have the names of selling shareholders been made public.
The major shareholders are investors who purchased the company from founder Anthony Bakker in 1999. These include Heilman & Friedman Capital Partners III and two related investment groups that own 68.46 percent of the stock. Bakker still controls 14.29 percent of shares, as well as controlling a company that leases the headquarters building to Blackbaud for a base rent of $4.3 million a year.
In January, CEO Robert Sywolski, who made $1.1 million last year, noted that the company paid off the $115 million in debt incurred in the buyout from its cash flow, 12 months ahead of schedule.
--WebCPA staff
