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Pinterest May Go Public Coming June; Files Confidentially for U.S. IPO

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According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the social media website, Pinterest has confidentially filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The news came out on Thursday, according to which the company is seeking a valuation of at least $12 billion over its IPO.

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Pinterest plans to go for the IPO in the month of June this year, for that it has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co, as the lead underwriters, although the company has denied commenting over this matter.

Pinterest is one of the largest, still-private, companies and the Unicorns of Silicon Valley, that had also raised $150 million in a private funding round in 2017. A few months ago the CEO of the company Ben Silbermann had also announced in a statement that the company was planning to go public in April 2019. But due to the economic slowdown, like few other companies, the IPO has delayed to June.

In the last September, it was estimated that the San Francisco based company caters to over 250 million through the company’s website and mobile app. The users use Pinterest as a bulletin board where they pin the things of their interest. The app is also used as an e-commerce platform to sell products and services. The company itself earns profits from marketing and advertisements. In 2018, the recorded revenue of the company was more than $700 million.

The news of the company going public can be an after effect of the other tech giants like Slack, Uber and Lyft filing for their IPO, even though the company has still maintained confidentiality over this topic. Under the JOBS Act of 2012, a few companies with annual revenue less than $1 billion can file for IPO confidentially, such that they could raise capital before the before releasing detailed financial information.

Pinterest Hires Goldman & JPMorgan Chase as the Lead Underwriters for its Anticipated IPO

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Pinterest is all set for its IPO, and reportedly, this San Francisco based photo sharing website owner has hired Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase as its lead underwriters for the same. The company has been in the business, since almost 11 years, and has become a well known visual search site where people post and share pictures related to different sorts including fashion, beauty, lifestyle, wedding etc.

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According to Reuters, the company has indicated that the company may raise $1.5 billion in the IP0, and it may go public in the first half of the year. According to the people with the awareness on the subject, said that in 2017, Pinterest raised $150 million in secret funding round and was valued at $12.3 billion, at the same share prices.

Pinterest, a social media website, with a unique concept, has grown very well since its inception, and currently, has more than a 250 million monthly active users. Last year, the company valued between $12 billion and $13 billion and reported annual revenue of $700 million, which was 50 per cent more than the revenue it gained in 2017. The main reason behind the success of this platform, according to one of its investor is that “there are no Russian trolls” on Pinterest, and also, there have been no cases in which Pinterest have ever sold its users’ data.

Pinterest is like a bulletin board and used to bookmark and pin things the users want to track onto it. The boards are categorized based on different topics. But the site is just not a photo sharing website, as it also allows people to sell goods on the platforms. The user can also shop for things through their mobiles, by holding and clicking on the desired product.

Although the timing for the IPO is not the best as its contemporary companies, including Facebook and Twitter, are going through serious user privacy breach allegations, put by the politicians. But as Pinterest has always been away from such matters it may not affect its IPO.

Notably, along with Goldman Sachs, Pinterest’s IPO is backed by many other investment firms, including Valiant Capital Partners, Wellington Management, Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Venture Partners.