MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA --(Marketwired - July 23, 2014) - TangoMe, Inc., a leading mobile messaging application, announced today the recent completion of a secondary offering of $8 million that allowed employees who hold common stock or stock options the ability to sell a percentage of their vested shares and options during a company approved window. This allowed employees to realize the value they have helped create in their shares without waiting for the company to go public or become acquired.
To facilitate the secondary offering, Tango became an issuer member of the NASDAQ Private Market, the new capital market for leading private companies, to enable employees to sell shares as a private company.
"As a privately held company, we're constantly looking for innovative ways to recognize the hard work and dedication our employees bring to work each day," said Jean-Philippe Emelie Marcos, COO of Tango. "Rewarding employees with ownership of the company has been one highly effective way to recruit top talent. Giving them a way to unlock the value of those shares while we remain private, creates a powerful retention tool and demonstrates our commitment to employees."
Tango partnered with NASDAQ Private Market and SharesPost to streamline the entire process to ensure the tracking, reporting and ownership transfer of employee shares happened efficiently.
"NASDAQ Private Market is proud to support Tango's efforts to enable their employees to realize the value they have created," said Greg Brogger, President of NASDAQ Private Market. "Providing liquidity to early stakeholders helps forward-looking private companies like Tango to stand out from the crowd in their recruiting and retention efforts."
Today, Tango has 200 employees, and intends to hold annual secondary programs to provide an ongoing incentive for their employees to continue growing the value of the company. To learn more about the benefits of working at Tango, visit www.tango.me/careers .
The secondary offering follows Tango's $280 million Series D funding which was announced March 20, 2014, and led by Alibaba Group. Securities-related services in connection with the secondary offering were provided by a subsidiary of NASDAQ Private Market, NPM Securities, LLC, a member of FINRA and SIPC.
About TangoMe, Inc. Tango is a free mobile messaging service with more than 200 million registered members. Through communication, social features, and a compelling content platform, Tango members discover engaging ways to connect, get social and have fun. Tango has enhanced its messaging service with an innovative content platform for game developers, advertisers, and others. Tango is available on iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, Blackberry, Kindle Fire and PC, and it works across 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi. Tango is available in 14 languages and has members in more than 224 countries. Founded in September 2009, Tango is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and has offices in Beijing, China, and Austin, Texas. Visit www.tango.me for more information.
About NASDAQ Private Market: The NASDAQ Private Market, LLC is the new capital market for leading private companies. Through its broker-dealer network and partners, NASDAQ Private Market connects companies with a global community of investors, and provides an integrated equity solution for managing everything from cap table management to stock plan administration. Whether a company seeks to optimize an eventual IPO or remain private permanently, NASDAQ Private Market provides complete capital market support to meet its needs. For certain eligible investors and shareholders, NASDAQ Private Market is a place to discover and engage with some of the most exciting private companies.
NASDAQ Private Market was formed in March of 2013 as a joint venture between The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. and SharesPost, Inc. Securities-related services are offered through NPM Securities, LLC, a registered broker-dealer and alternative trading system, which is a member FINRA/SIPC and a wholly-owned subsidiary of The NASDAQ Private Market, LLC. Securities offered through NPM Securities, LLC are not listed or traded on The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, nor are the securities subject to the same listing or qualification standards applicable to securities listed or traded on The NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC. To learn more about NASDAQ Private Market, visit www.npm.com .
Contact: Jennifer Caukin TangoMe, Inc. 408-348-9494 press@tango.me Jeremiah Hall NASDAQ Private Market 415-349-5016 jeremiah@torchcommunications.com
