Vizio, an electronics company known for manufacturing affordable TVs, will soon be a publically traded under the ticker symbol 'VZIO,' reports The Wall Street Journal. Vizio aims to raise $172.5 million for its public offering, according to documents filed on Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But since the filing usually accounts for fees, the $172.5 million IPO goal isn't set in stone.
Vizio, currently based in Irvine, Calif., has said they'll reincorporate their business in Delaware, but the company has not said which stock exchange they'll sell their shares under. Vizio's shares will be divided into Class A and B shares; A shares will be sold to the public, providing one vote per share and Class B shares – worth 10 votes per share – will be owned by Vizio CEO William Wang so he can control the company.
The electronics company earned its success by selling low-cost flat panel TVs. In April, TechSpot reported on Vizio's 2015 lineup offering a 43-inch 4k TV starting at $599. Thanks to Vizio's competitive pricing, the soon-to-be public electronics company has snagged around 25 percent of the U.S. TV market, trailing not far behind Samsung. In the first half of this year, Vizio claimed $31.4 million in profit and $1.34 billion in sales, opposed to last year's $25.3 million and $1.26 billion, respectively.
Vizio has also experimented with selling electronics like tablets, laptops and desktops, but all these products have since vanished from their web store.