Fortinet shares priced higher than expected at $12.50 each ahead of IPO

Fortinet shares price at $12.50 each ahead of IPO

NEW YORK — Shares of Fortinet Inc. priced higher than expected at $12.50 each ahead of the computer security company’s planned initial public offering Wednesday.

The network security provider’s IPO of 12.5 million shares should yield estimated proceeds of $156.3 million. It previously expected to price the shares between $9 and $11 apiece.

Existing shareholders are selling roughly 6.7 million shares, while the company is offering 5.8 million shares. That would leave Fortinet with proceeds of $72.5 million.

Fortinet offers unified threat management systems, which combine security functions such as antivirus and firewall protection for computer networks.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., company has seen its revenue climb from $38.7 million in 2004 to $211.8 million last year. Fortinet says it became profitable in the third quarter of 2008.

It will trade under the symbol “FTNT” on the Nasdaq exchange.

Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and Deutsche Bank are serving as underwriters and hold the option to buy up to 1.9 million additional shares to cover overallotments.