BlueArc Corporation, a provider of high-performance networked storage systems for businesses of all sizes, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. The San Jose, CA-based company, which was founded in 1998 and has shipped over 2,000 systems to more than 750 customers to date, booked $92 million in sales for the 12 months ended April 30, 2011. BlueArc plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol BLRC. J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch, and Credit Suisse are the lead underwriters on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed. The company originally filed to go public in September 2007 but withdrew its planned offering in November 2008.
BlueArc's IPO filing follows the recent successful debut of Fusion-IO (FIO), a provider of next generation storage memory systems for data centers. Fusion-IO raised $234 million on June 8 after pricing well above its proposed IPO range, and rose 18% in its first day of trading. The stock closed Friday at $28.73, up 51% from its offer price. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse acted as lead underwriters for the IPO.
