Vocus PR Files Initial Public Offering: Sees $2 Billion PR Software Market

O'Dwyer PR [subscription required] reports that Vocus Inc. which launched its first PR software platform in 1999 and had revenues of about $20M last year, has filed a registration statement with the SEC for an initial public offering.

Vocus' prospectus contains some lofty projections for PR. The company estimates, based on a Harris/Impulse Research survey of PR last year, that PR budgets rose 15.5 percent per year from 2001-2004. Futher, Vocus estimates that the "aggregate annual PR budgets" for companies with revenues of at least $10M were $110 billion in '04. Based on that figure, and the U.S. Dept. of Labor's projection that PR is a sector where employment will increase faster than the average occupation through 2012, Vocus sees a $2 billion market for PR software.

Vocus, which would use the ticker symbol VOCS on the Nasdaq exchange, also said it plans to expand its international presence and pursue acquisitions, O'Dwyers says.

Disclosures show the company has 170 employees. CEO Richard Rudman, 44, earned just under $384K in salary and bonuses last year, while Chief Technology Officer and Director Robert Lentz, also 44, pulled in about $267K. They were not awarded stock options in 2004.

Thomas Weisel Partners, RBC Capital Markets Corp. and, Wachovia Capital Markets and William Blair & Co. are underwriters for the IPO.

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