{"id":744813,"date":"2013-04-03T12:05:09","date_gmt":"2013-04-03T16:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=627014"},"modified":"2013-04-03T12:05:09","modified_gmt":"2013-04-03T16:05:09","slug":"here-is-an-ipo-you-didnt-expect-moleskine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/744813","title":{"rendered":"Here is an IPO you didn\u2019t expect: Moleskine"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you work in technology and still like to take notes, write, draw and imagine, then you are quite familiar with the Moleskine<\/a> brand. What was once a cool but obscure brand of notebooks has become a product so ubiquitous<\/a> that you can find it in swag bags for conferences, and venture capital firms hand them out like candy.<\/p>

In other words, it is very mainstream and very big. And that is why Moleskine went public today on the Milan Stock Exchange. Its shares were priced at 2.30 euros a share. The company raised 245 million euros, or roughly $314 million. It is valued at roughly $626 million. Moleskin had revenues of 78.1 million euros and a profit of about 18.1 million euros in 2012.\u00a0The\u00a0stock jumped\u00a03.9 percent<\/a>\u00a0today before falling slightly.<\/p>

Here is a little background on the company from its prospectus<\/a>:<\/p>

The company grew out of the experience of Modo&Modo, a small Milanese publisher that in 1997 created the Moleskine trademark, rediscovering and renewing an extraordinary tradition. In the fall of 2006, Modo&Modo was purchased by SGCapital Europe, now Syntegra Capital, with the objective of fully developing the potential of the Moleskine brand.\u00a0Since 1 January 2007, Moleskine has also become the name of the company that owns the worldwide trademark rights for the brand. \u00a0In the fall of 2006, Modo&Modo was purchased by SGCapital Europe, now Syntegra Capital, with the objective of fully developing the potential of the Moleskine brand.<\/p><\/blockquote>

\"evernote-smart-notebooks\"<\/p>

The IPO is a windfall for Index Ventures, one of the investors in Moleskine. The company is making efforts to cash in on its tech connections. It recently partnered with Evernote for a smart notebook <\/a>and also has started a community for Moleskine customers.\u00a0By the way, all the cool kids are now using Field Notes<\/a>, which is, well, cooler.<\/p>
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