RPX Corporation, which bills itself as a defensive patent aggregator and aims to neutralize NPEs (aka patent trolls) by buying up patents and licensing them to clients for an annual subscription fee, announced today that its initial public offering exceeded expectations, raising approximately $159.6 million.
The company, co-founded by Intellectual Ventures veterans John Amster and Geoffrey Barker, filed for the IPO in January and had hoped to raise $100 million. The offering, however, priced higher than anticipated, bringing in $19/share compared to an anticipated $16 to $18/share.
As of the end of March, RPX had lined up 80 clients, including hightech heavyweights like Google, Cisco, Nokia, and Verizon. It brought in $94.9million in revenue in 2010.
RPX began trading today on the Nasdaq exchange under the “RPXC” ticker symbol. The stock initially spiked to $24.36 before falling to $23.05 in early morning trading.