Bucking the generally weak IPO market, Rosetta Stone, an Arlington, Virginia-based language instruction company, plans to hold an initial public offering later this month which would be the first venture-capital-based IPO in six months. The Washington Post reports that Rosetta Stone will seek to raise as much as $106.3 million by offering 6.25 million shares of common stock priced between $15-$17 per share.
According to a report by the National Venture Capital Association and research firm Thomson Reuters yesterday, there have been no venture capital-based IPOs since October, the Washington Post reports. It has been nearly a full year since the last DC-area company went public (real estate investment trust American Capital Agency in April 2008). If the IPO goes forward, Rosetta Stone will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RST.