Liftoff Mobile Files for IPO
Mobile marketing and ad tech company Liftoff Mobile announced it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The submission relates to a proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The number of shares and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.
- The company was formed through the 2021 merger of two mobile ad-tech firms, Liftoff and Vungle, a deal orchestrated by private equity firm Blackstone, which had previously acquired majority stakes in both. - Blackstone remains the majority shareholder, with growth equity firm General Atlantic purchasing a minority stake in 2025 that valued the company at $4.3 billion. - The IPO is targeting a valuation of up to $5.17 billion, aiming to raise as much as $762 million by offering 25.4 million shares priced between $26 and $30 each. - According to its S-1 filing, the company generated $519 million in revenue in 2024, but recorded a net loss of $48 million and carries a debt load of $1.85 billion. - This is Liftoff's second attempt to go public; it previously considered an IPO in late 2021 but shelved the plan after market conditions worsened in early 2022. - The combined platform for mobile app marketing and monetization reaches approximately 1.4 billion daily active users worldwide. - Prior to the merger, Vungle had been on an acquisition spree, buying influencer marketing platform Jetfuel as well as TreSensa, GameRefinery, and Algolift. - A large syndicate of 18 banks is underwriting the deal, with Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and Morgan Stanley acting as the lead book-running managers.
