Veeva said to plan $2 billion IPO launch - MS, LLY & AZN

Northern, WI 03/11/2013 (avauncer) - Veeva Systems Inc., a company which provides cloud-based IT and business solutions, is planning to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in 2013, according to reliable sources.

The company is engaging with different banks including Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and looking for a valuation up to $2 billion, sources familiar with the matter disclosed. The company’s revenue is expected to grow minimum 50 percent in 2013 as Veeva reaches closer to Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL) sales figure.

Unlike Oracle and other IT and business solutions servicers, providing services through Internet, Veeva along with two others Athenahealth Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHN) and Dealertrack Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:TRAK) is treading a different path altogether as all of them are targeting specific segments for servicing such as healthcare and automobile industry.

Very much like Veeva, Athenahealth and Dealertrak registered strong profits last year. And all of them dedicated only 40 percent of sales to marketing activities. Though Veeva has a small stake in the cloud market worth $22.3 billion, but it has been able to win over many top-notch drug manufacturers.

Analyst at IDC Eric Newmark, while praising Veeva’s turnaround, said that the cloud computing solutions provider is a shining star which has registered a tremendous groth in no time. The company is not too far behind Oracle and it should overtake everyone by next year, he further stated.

Within the pharmaceutical space, Veeva’s software has built up a reputation of its own for its efficiency and the capability to provide effective solutions. Its tools also help sales executives file samples specified to doctors and get electronic signatures required to fulfill drug-marketing rules.

The firm spends only 25 percent of its revenue on promoting products, which is about 50 percent for Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE:CRM), the biggest provider of online customer-service solutions.

Co-founder and CEO Peter Gassner said in an interview that in this particular domain customers knew Veeva almost as well as they knew Microsoft Office.

The mind behind generating an idea of providing software services through Internet was of Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Gordon Ritter, a member on the Veeva’s board, said that a slight focus of his present venture presents a better profitable model.

Veeva, which has Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY), Novartis AG and AstraZeneca Plc (LON:AZN) as clients in its list, last year induced a content- management system to assess clinical information and sales data. Next, it is planning to bring in an online solution to give more information about individual doctors, those known to the matter said.

The shares of Morgan Stanley(NYSE:MS) were up by 0.87% and currently trading at $23.23

The shares of Eli Lilly & Co.(NYSE:LLY) were down by 0.07% and currently trading at $55.12

The shares of AstraZeneca plc(LON:AZN) were up by 0.04% and currently trading at GBX3,041