WASHINGTON – Credit-card company MasterCard Inc. (search) Thursday provided details on its planned initial public offering, estimating its value at $2.45 billion.
The Purchase, N.Y., company said the valuation was estimated solely for calculating the registration fee. The eventual price terms of an IPO often differ substantially from the valuation in the first registration.
MasterCard announced plans for the IPO two weeks ago, but did not provide details. The launch is expected in the first quarter of next year, and will transfer 49 percent of the company, now owned by its member banks, to investors.
MasterCard plans to sell 61.5 million shares of Class A common stock, according to its Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (search).
Goldman, Sachs & Co. (GS), the underwriter listed in the filing, has the option to purchase up to 4.6 million additional shares to meet demand.
The company didn't provide an estimated price range for the shares, which it intends to list the Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange (search) under the symbol "MA."
The company said it intends to use $650 million of the proceeds for general corporate purposes and the rest to redeem Class B shares from holders.
Before the IPO, it will reclassify its members' 100 million shares into Class B and Class M stock.
The Class A and Class B shares will have the same economic rights, but Class B shares will be nonvoting.
The Class M shares will have no economic rights, but holders of the Class M common stock will have the right to elect up to three directors and approve specified significant corporate transactions, according to the registration.
The company will issue 13.5 million Class A shares as a donation to the MasterCard Foundation, a private charity.
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