Kansas-based SelectQuote has seen impressive growth over the last year as it gets closer to doubling its 2018 revenue.
Founded in 1985 by Charan Singh, the company offers an online platform that allows consumers to compare insurance policies for life, home, and auto, working with such leading insurers as American International, Liberty Mutual, and Prudential Financial. In 2018, SelectQuote reported sales at $233.7 million. For the nine months ending on March 31, 2020, recorded sales were at $390 million, with analysts projecting 2020 year-end sales to hit $464.5 million.
As it prepares to expand even further, SelectQuote announced last month that it is planning to hire 1,000 new insurance sales and support associate positions this year, with a majority coming in the Kansas City Metro area, as well as Jacksonville, Fla., California, Colorado, and Iowa.
And just this week, SelectQuote closed out its initial public offering of 32,775,000 shares at a price of $20 per share. That was above the target range of $17-$19 per share, with the company originally looking to raise as much as $342 million at a valuation of more than $3 billion.
When all was said and done, the company wound up raising $570 million at a valuation of more than $4 billion—and its IPO was the largest in the U.S. since February, with first-day trading closing up 35 percent.
SelectQuote’s CEO is predicting that business will continue to boom as the COVID-19 pandemic is leading more people onto its website to purchase insurance online. “Consumers don’t want folks in their house selling insurance, they’d rather do research online and connect telephonically and we view that as a trend moving forward,” said Timothy Danker.
The company will be using some of the proceeds of its IPO to pay off debt, specifically a loan for its new Senior Secured Credit Facilities that matures in November 2024. SelectQuote revealed in its S-1 filing that it will need at least 25 percent of the IPO profits to go towards the loan, and the remaining profits will be earmarked to capital expenditures and general corporate purposes.
