Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify has raised $1.91 billion in a previously-announced public offering. All figures are in US dollars.
The total proceeds from the raise, which closed on Friday, is slightly higher than the $1.79 billion originally anticipated. Shopify said it plans to use the proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet, which it said would provide flexibility for the company to fund its growth strategies.
Shopify will use the new capital to strengthen its balance sheet.
The public offering consisted of an equity offering and a note offering. Shopify’s equity offering consisted of 1.1 million Class A subordinate voting shares sold at $900 per share and an offering of convertible senior notes that are due in 2025.
Proceeds from the equity offering totalled $990 million, while gross proceeds from convertible senior notes totalled $920 million. The underwriters also fully exercised their over-allotment option, which was worth $120 million.
The equity offering was led by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Credit Suisse, while RBC Capital Markets acted as co-manager. The note offering was led by Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Credit Suisse, and RBC Capital Markets also acted as co-manager.
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The public offering comes amid a year of big operational changes for Shopify, which last month laid off between 30 to 50 employees, predominantly working in internal operations, such as office management. Earlier this month, the company confirmed plans to vacate its Ottawa headquarters and one of its numerous Toronto locations. Additional reports also surfaced that Shopify is looking to expand its Toronto presence.
Those developments came a few months after Shopify announced it would be shifting to a permanent remote work model, meaning the vast majority of its more than 5,000 employees would continue to work remotely, even after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
This year, Shopify has expanded its financial services offering with the launch of Shopify Balance, a banking product for small businesses. Shopify has also launched partnerships with US tech and retail giants, including Facebook, to offer an online storefront tool, and Walmart, to integrate Shopify’s merchants onto Walmart’s website.
Image source Unsplash. Photo by Roberto Cortese.