The parent company behind messaging app Snapchat has confidentially filed for a stock market flotation, according to reports.
According to Bloomberg, Snap will seek to raise as much as $4 billion and the IPO could value the company anywhere from $25 billion to $35 billion. The Wall Street Journal and Reuters are more conservative, saying the valuation range is $20 billion to $25 billion.
Snap would be just the latest company to take advantage of the ability to tell the Securities and Exchange Commission of its intend to go public without a public S-1 filing. These so-called confidential filings are reserved to companies with an annual revenue of less than $1 billion, which are also known as emerging-growth companies.
The California-based company has more than 100 million active users, and roughly 60% of them are aged between 13 and 24 – making the app an attractive way for advertisers to reach millennials with money to spend.
Earlier this month, Snapchat launched video-camera sunglasses which can connect to a smartphone and take “snaps” wirelessly – a sign it is trying to diversify.
