Oura Halts IPO Plans After Investors Question Valuation and Insider Sales, Report Says

Oura Inc. has postponed its initial public offering after some potential investors balked at the smart ring maker's proposed valuation and share structure, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday.

The company had planned to raise as much as $2.2 billion, but faced pushback on its goal of achieving a market value of up to $15 billion on a fully diluted basis.

Valuation and Structure Scrutinized

According to regulatory filings, the offering was structured to include 50 million shares. Key details of the proposed IPO included:

• 13.5 million shares sold by Oura to raise new capital.
• 36.5 million shares sold by existing shareholders, including backers like Forerunner Ventures and Lifeline Ventures.

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Several investors reportedly expressed concern about the high proportion of shares being sold by insiders. Such a move can be interpreted by the market as a potential lack of confidence in the company's long-term growth prospects from its earliest supporters.

Market Headwinds and Company Response

The cautious sentiment may also be linked to the poor stock performance of other publicly traded health and fitness device companies. Both Fitbit Inc., acquired by Google in 2021, and Peloton Interactive Inc. saw their share prices fall significantly below their IPO levels after their market debuts.

Despite the concerns, the offering had reportedly attracted orders for approximately four times the number of available shares. In a statement, Oura CEO Tom Hale said the company has "the luxury of choosing our moment" for its public debut. "We aim to deliver an extraordinary IPO for our employees and investors," Hale said. "In the meantime, we will execute against the opportunities ahead."