NetSpend Holdings Inc.'s initial public offering of at least 18.5 million shares has priced at $11 a share, midpoint of the expected range of $10 to $12.
The prepaid debit card provider postponed its IPO last week after MetaBank, which issues nearly three-quarters of NetSpend's cards, said the Office of Thrift Supervision had found that the bank engaged in deceptive acts or practices in connection with a line-of-credit program.
On Monday, when the IPO priced, NetSpend said it planned to shift "at least" 15% of its prepaid debit card business away from MetaBank, a unit of Meta Financial Group Inc., because of the bank's regulatory problems.
This was not expected to result in significant capital requirements or expenses but would consume technology and management attention during the transition.
NetSpend's shares are to trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol NTSP.
The company itself plans to sell just 2.3 million shares, and the rest are to be sold by current holders, including the private-equity firms Oak Investment Partners and JLL Partners, as well as by directors and executives of NetSpend.
About 81 million shares are to be outstanding after the IPO, and Oak Investment would be the biggest holder, with a 39% stake. JLL would own 27%.
NetSpend's earnings were flat in the first half of 2010, compared with a year earlier, at $11.1 million; its revenue grew 25%, to $137 million.
The NetSpend IPO comes after the success of competitor Green Dot Corp., which went public in July. Green Dot gained 22% on its first day of trading; its stock closed Monday up 42% from its IPO price of $36.
However, Green Dot's offering was small, at 4.6 million shares, and NetSpend's 18.5 million shares is at the higher end of the spectrum for 2010.
