Corsair Gaming Inc. raised $238 million in an IPO that hit the middle of its targets and valued the 26-year-old company at about $1.3 billion.
That’s more than double what New York private equity firm EagleTree Capital paid when it bought control of the Fremont-based PC and gaming hardware business in 2017.
The IPO is the fifth by a Bay Area tech company in two weeks, ending a nine-month drought for Wall Street debuts by the region’s companies from that sector.
Corsair agreed to sell 14 million shares at $17 each, in the middle of its price range of $16 to $18. It dropped as low as $14.10, however, in its trading debut on the Nasdaq with the symbol of “CRSR.” It finished the day at $14.25.
Corsair is one of the world’s biggest makers of keyboards and computer peripherals aimed at the gaming market. It has benefited from the rise of esports, posting over $1 billion in net sales in 2019.
The company swung to a $23.8 million net profit for the first half of this year, compared to a net loss of $15.9 million in the first half of last year. It posted an annual loss of $13.7 million in 2018 and $8.4 million in 2019.
EagleTree owned about 92% of Corsair as of June 30 and the private equity firm will continue to be majority owner after the IPO.
This was the second attempt by Corsair to go public. It previously scrapped IPO plans in 2012 in favor of a buyout involving another private equity firm, San Francisco-based Francisco Partners.
