Snap, Snapchat’s parent company, recently filed their IPO. It is the most anticipated IPO that’s been filed in a while – three years after Alibaba debuted. The filing will be traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SNAP. As of December 2016, the company claimed to have a value of around 21 billion dollars, with shares worth $16.33 at the time. In the document, the company states that it aims to raise $3 billion with its public offering, but may seek to raise as much as $4 billion. Snap revealed a 48% increase on its daily active users, reaching 158 million in the last quarter of 2016. Their sales, on another note, jumped to $404.5 million from $58.7 million in 2015 – a massive 589% increase in revenue. However, the firm also revealed a huge figure in terms of losses, which amounted to $514.6 million from $306.6 million in the prior year. “We began commercial operations in 2011 and for all of our history we have experienced net losses and negative cash flows from operations”, Snap said. Although a lot of doubt has been suspected on the firm’s sustainability, the company’s figures seem to be pointing up. So far, more than 2.5 billion snaps are created everyday, and the company said that Snapchatters visit the app more than 18 times a day – spending an average of at least 25 to 30 minutes on the app every day. Snap is making roughly $1 off of each user that is has, although the number doubles per user in North America. The company had 1,859 employees as of December 31, 2016, and has just shy of $1 billion in cash and equivalents in the bank. Investment giant T. Rowe Price posed a challenge to Snap Inc.’s founders in an attempt to lessen Snap Inc.’s founders’ control of the company after their IPO. Business Insider called Snap Inc.’s plan an “extreme approach”, as it would ensure that founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy still maintained control over the company after the company’s public offering. Snap’s IPO reportedly plans to sell only non-voting shares. T. Rowe Price, one of the company’s biggest backers, didn’t seem pleased about this scheme. CEO Bill Stromberg told Australian Financial Review that they’re quietly and persistently advocating for change. However, on a story released last week, T. Rowe Price’s issued statement reveals that it will be anything but silent. Here’s the full statement” “Contrary to certain news reports, T. Rowe Price is not contesting the plan by Snap Inc. to issue non-voting shares in its impending initial public offering. We believe that our investment in Snap continues to be in our clients’ best interests. We maintain a good relationship with Snap and its management team and look forward to further constructive conversations in the future. While we generally do not favor proposals that would create disproportionate voting rights, we evaluate each proposal on a case-by-case basis solely with the best interests of our clients in mind.” Snap’s IPO could net up to $25 billion.
