Zipcar prices IPO stock at $14 to $16 per share

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Car-sharing service Zipcar Inc. and some of its investors will sell 8.33 million shares of stock for $14 to $16 each in an initial public offering.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based service that's popular in large cities and on college campuses said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday that it would sell roughly 6.67 million shares, while investors would sell about 1.67 million more.

The company estimated its portion of the shares would yield $89.2 million at $15 per share, the midpoint of the price range, after underwriting discounts and commissions. Zipcar said it would repay $45.8 million in debt and use the rest for working capital and other company purposes.

Excluding underwriting costs, the total offer would yield from $116.6 million at $14 per share to $133.3 million at $16.

Normally in initial public stock offerings, the company announces a price range for the shares, and then its executives go on a road show to pitch the stock to investors. David Menlow, founder of research company IPOfinancial.com, predicted that the final price and sale date would come within two to three weeks. No date was set for the offering.

Many of Zipcar's top shareholders, including Revolution Living, Benchmark Capital Partners and Greylock Partners, will not sell shares in the offering. The shares sold by investors will come mainly from smaller stakeholders although one large shareholder, Smedvig Capital AS of Norway, will offer more than 900,000 shares.

Underwriters in the offering have the option of buying 1.25 million more shares from management including the chief executive officer, president and chief operating officer, and chief financial officer, Zipcar said in its filing.

Zipcar has never posted a profit. In 2010, the company lost $14.1 million, or $2.74 per share, much wider than the $4.6 million, or $2.23 per share, that it lost in 2009. Revenue last year was $186.1 million, according to the filing. Zipcar had predicted it would lose money in 2010, as it ramped up its expansion.

Goldman Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan, Cowen and Co., Needham & Company LLC and Oppenheimer & Co. are serving as underwriters for the deal.

Zipcar said in the filing said its debt repayments include $30.8 million to Lighthouse Capital Partners VI, L.P. and Pinnacle Ventures L.L.C.; $10 million to Goldman Sachs and $5 million in debt related to its purchase of a U.K. competitor called Streetcar.

Zipcar, which has customers in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "ZIP."