UPDATED 12:55 EST / JUNE 01 2016

NEWS

Nutanix borrows $75M from Goldman Sachs to weather IPO drought

To say that The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s relationship with Nutanix Inc is special would be an understatement. It bought a stake in the hyperconverged infrastructure startup three years ago, went on to be named as the chief underwriter for its upcoming public offering and is now taking on the role of a lender. According to a newly uncovered regulatory filing, the line of credit involved in the exchange is valued at $75 million.

The loan is nothing short of a lifeline for Nutanix. According to its IPO paperwork. the startup lost $119 million in the nine months through April 2016 and over $116 million during the year before that, which adds up to a significant portion of its venture capital war chest. Goldman Sachs’ cash infusion buys the leadership team much-needed time to cut expenses and thus hopefully achieve a path towards profitability.

The original plan was to finance the effort with money from Nutanix’s public offering, but the company was forced to delay the move due to unfavorable investment conditions. Only two other technology firms have hit the stock market since the start of the year, and just one of them managed to meet its desired funding goal. The disappointing performance of the other, Dell Inc. spin-off SecureWorks Inc., was widely attributed to its unprofitability and the fact that it’s not on track to leave the red any time soon.

As a result, Nutanix will probably wait for a few more quarters at a minimum before taking its chances on the stock market. The duration of the delay will be likely be determined at least in part by the coming IPO of Twilio Inc., another unprofitable tech firm with strong revenue growth that filed its paperworks last week. If the communications provider meets its funding goal, then it will send a signal that Wall Street is once again willing to bet on fast-rising startups with high valuations.

But Nutanix also needs to prepare for the possibility that the market will take a while still to regain its confidence. The company must return Goldman Sachs’ loan in three years with an annual interest rate that could end up as high as 10 percent, which will require the leadership team to make some tough decisions. Even the best case scenario of a successful IPO has the outfit paying at least $6.5 million in interest, although that should be much more easily manageable.

Image via Pixabay

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