Trulia Inc., an Internet startup focused on residential real estate, filed to raise $75 million in an initial public offering, aiming to capitalize on an improving U.S. housing market.
The San Francisco-based company's owners will sell the stock, according to a regulatory filing today, which didn't specify how many shares were being offered. The amount is a placeholder number used to calculate registration fees and may change. Trulia owners Accel Partners, Fayez Sarofim & Co. and Sequoia Capital plan to sell their stakes, the filing shows.
Trulia is a rival to Zillow Inc., which raised $69.2 million in its IPO in July 2011 and has seen its shares jump 79 percent since its market debut. The number of new-home building permits grew in the U.S. last month, indicating that the industry will keep improving in the second half of the year.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG are managing Trulia's offering, with help from RBC Capital Markets LLC, Needham & Co. and William Blair & Co., according to the filing. The company may use the deal's proceeds to acquire businesses and other assets and plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TRLA.
Trulia's search engine is used by more than 20 million people a month to look for homes in specific neighborhoods. The company offers reviews on local schools and crime rates. The company makes money through ads on the site and subscriptions that let real estate agents target users and get their listings featured prominently.
Trulia's net loss for the six months ended June 30 widened to $7.64 million from $2.61 million a year earlier. Revenue for the period jumped 78 percent to $28.9 million.
