Ok, all you snap chatters your moment has come. What will be the biggest thing to hit the IPO markets since Facebook (NYSE: FB) is likely getting started this week. Snap, Inc., the company that owns snapchat (NYSE:SNAP) will very likely release their financials this week in a move towards and IPO. Wall Street is anxiously awaiting these financials as Snap is a very secretive company and very few know the real numbers.
The rumor is that Snap, Inc. is looking to go public as early as March. Analysts are putting a preliminary value on the company of $20- $25 billion. If this is the case it would be the largest U.S. tech IPO since Facebook back in 2012.
Now, snap has already filed, although secretly with the Securities and Exchange commission. They filed under a law that allows companies with less than $1 billion in revenue to file secretly for an IPO. Why would they do this? Well, Snap may have other reasons but usually this is done to test investors' interest before making any large commitment.
As of now the reports are that Snap is looking to offer new investors shares that have no vote in the company. This means, unlike the traditional norm, investors will have no voting power over snapchats corporate decisions, which I think is personally ridiculous. Control will basically stay in the hands of the board and co-founders.
If your not familiar with SnapChat, the company's flagship offering, it is a free mobile app that started back in 2012 that allows users to send photos that erase forever shortly after. They currently have over 100 million, consistently active users most of whom are between 13 and 24 which makes it one of the main locations of millennials, which is attractive to advertisers.
The only negative is that the company's advertising sales are the only real source of revenue for now. The advertising only started last October as well, so its going to be difficult for disciplined investors to get past this.