MUMBAI: Online Internet radio service Pandora Media Inc. and its private investors raised $235 million in its initial public offering (IPO) on the first day of trading on Tuesday. The IPO values the company at more than $2.4 billion.

The stock will begin trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ‘P‘.
 
The price per share of the radio services‘ IPO was $16, almost double the level expected in April when the firm initially forecast a price range of $7 to $9 per share. Last week, the cost per-share increased to between $10 to $12 a share.

The stage for Pandora going in for an IPO was set by IPOs of other Internet companies this year that have evoked memories of the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. Last month, professional-networking firm LinkedIn Corp. debuted at $45 per share amid intense demand from large and small investors alike. 
 
LinkedIn shares rocketed as high as $122.70 on the first day of trading on 19 May and closed at $ 94.25, more than double the IPO price.
Less than a week later, Internet search-engine firm Yandex , termed as Russia‘s Google, went public at $25 a share and shot up 55 per cent to close at $38.84 on its first day of trading.