Twitter reveals latest IPO details: 70m shares, at US$17 to US$20 price range

25 Oct 2013

A Twitter self-snapshot included as part of the information on the company in the 24 October 2013 SEC S-1 filing

Twitter has sent an amended S-1 filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) this November. Twitter’s latest filing suggests it could be planning to raise in the region of US$1.4bn and perhaps even US$1.6bn in its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) when it goes public.

In all, 70m shares will be on offer, with Twitter estimating that the IPO per share will come in between US$17 and US$20. Twitter filed its latest S-1 filing on 24 October 2013.

It would appear that Twitter is not being too ambitious about its valuation. In less-modest ambitions than Facebook before its IPO on 16 May 2012, Twitter’s latest share price details could mean the IPO would value the company at US$11bn (€8m).

In its third amended filing, Twitter stated that prior to this offering, there had been no public market for the common stock.

“It is currently estimated that the initial public offering price per share will be between $17 and $20,” the company stated.

According to a report from TechCrunch, the US$20 per share pricing could indicate that Twitter is on a mission to raise up to US$1.4bn and even as much as US$1.6bn. TechCrunch said this would include an over-allotment option, which would account for an overall 13pc stake in the company.

Twitter recently announced its IPO would happen on NYSE under the symbol TWTR, rather than the NASDAQ, where Facebook had its IPO.

Also, in its amended filing, Twitter wrote that the information in this “preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed”.

It said these securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the SEC is effective.

“This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell nor does it seek an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.”

Twitter now has more than 200m monthly active users who are collectively tweeting more than 500m tweets per day. The microblogging service has more than 100m daily active users from almost every country around the planet, Twitter said.

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic

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