Shares of Accel Partners-backed Nimble Storage surge in debut

Shares of data storage company Nimble Storage Inc rose as much as 50 percent in their market debut on Friday, valuing the company at about $2.21 billion, affiliated news service Reuters reported.

The California-based company is backed by VC firm Accel Partners, which is best known for its investment in Facebook.

Nimble Storage raised $168 million after its initial public offering of 8 million shares was priced at $21 per share, above the expected pricing range of $18-$20. The company sold all of the shares in the offering. 

Nimble Storage makes storage devices that combine hard disks and flash drives. It competes with larger companies such as NetApp Inc and EMC Corp.

Nimble Storage’s shares opened on Dec. 13 at $31.1 and touched a high of $31.50 on the New York Stock Exchange in early trade.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were the lead underwriters for the offering

Accel, which reaped a $5.8 billion gain on a $47 million investment in Facebook, has had about $5 billion in initial public offerings or acquisitions of portfolio companies in recent months.

These include the sale of payments service Braintree to eBay for $800 million, as well as the Nimble Storage IPO.

Accel raised its latest funds, Accel XI, at $475 million, and Accel Growth Fund II, at $875 million, in 2011.

Neha Dimri and Sarah McBride are reporters for Reuters News

This story was edited by Venture Capital Journal