Snap prices its IPO at $3.4 billion; oversubscribed more than ten-times

Snap priced 200 mn shares on Wednesday at $17 each, above its expected range of $14 to $16 dollars

Reuters  |  New York 

snap, snapchat

Inc's in-demand shares are set to start trading in New York on Thursday after the owner of the popular Snapchat messaging app raised $3.4 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, above its price expectations.

Snap's was oversubscribed by more than ten-times, indicating a hunger for the shares that might produce a pop on the first day of trading.

The carried out a trial run last week to make sure the third-biggest ever technology goes smoothly.

Facebook Inc's eagerly awaited market debut in 2012 was marred by a technical glitch at rival exchange Nasdaq.

After pricing its at $17 a share, the owner of the popular disappearing-message app has a market value of roughly $24 billion, more than double the size of rival Twitter Inc and the richest valuation in a US tech since Facebook five years ago.

The share sale was the first test of investor appetite for a social-media app that is beloved by teenagers and people under 30 for applying bunny faces and vomiting rainbows onto selfies, but has yet to convert "cool" into cash.

Despite a nearly seven-fold increase in revenue, the Los Angeles-based company's net loss widened 38 percent last year. It faces intense competition from larger rivals such as Facebook's Instagram as it grapples with decelerating user growth.

priced 200 million shares on Wednesday at $17 each, above its expected range of $14 to $16 dollars a share.

The sale was well timed, as investors look for fresh opportunities after 2016 marked the slowest year for IPOs since 2008. The launch could encourage debuts by other so-called unicorns, tech startups with private valuations of $1 billion or more.

Investors bought the shares despite them having no voting power, an unprecedented feature for an at odds with rising concerns about corporate governance over the past few years from fund managers looking to gain influence over executives.

Although is going public at a much earlier stage in its development than Twitter or Facebook, the five-year-old company is valuing itself at nearly 60 times revenue, more than double the 27 times revenue mark Facebook fetched in its

To justify its relatively high valuation and fend off concerns about slowing user growth, has emphasized how important Snapchat is to its users, how long they spend on the app and the revenue potential of the emerging trend for young people to communicate with video rather than text.

is set to begin trading on Thursday on the under the symbol

Snap prices its IPO at $3.4 billion; oversubscribed more than ten-times

Snap priced 200 mn shares on Wednesday at $17 each, above its expected range of $14 to $16 dollars

Snap priced 200 mn shares on Wednesday at $17 each, above its expected range of $14 to $16 dollars
Inc's in-demand shares are set to start trading in New York on Thursday after the owner of the popular Snapchat messaging app raised $3.4 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, above its price expectations.

Snap's was oversubscribed by more than ten-times, indicating a hunger for the shares that might produce a pop on the first day of trading.

The carried out a trial run last week to make sure the third-biggest ever technology goes smoothly.

Facebook Inc's eagerly awaited market debut in 2012 was marred by a technical glitch at rival exchange Nasdaq.

After pricing its at $17 a share, the owner of the popular disappearing-message app has a market value of roughly $24 billion, more than double the size of rival Twitter Inc and the richest valuation in a US tech since Facebook five years ago.

The share sale was the first test of investor appetite for a social-media app that is beloved by teenagers and people under 30 for applying bunny faces and vomiting rainbows onto selfies, but has yet to convert "cool" into cash.

Despite a nearly seven-fold increase in revenue, the Los Angeles-based company's net loss widened 38 percent last year. It faces intense competition from larger rivals such as Facebook's Instagram as it grapples with decelerating user growth.

priced 200 million shares on Wednesday at $17 each, above its expected range of $14 to $16 dollars a share.

The sale was well timed, as investors look for fresh opportunities after 2016 marked the slowest year for IPOs since 2008. The launch could encourage debuts by other so-called unicorns, tech startups with private valuations of $1 billion or more.

Investors bought the shares despite them having no voting power, an unprecedented feature for an at odds with rising concerns about corporate governance over the past few years from fund managers looking to gain influence over executives.

Although is going public at a much earlier stage in its development than Twitter or Facebook, the five-year-old company is valuing itself at nearly 60 times revenue, more than double the 27 times revenue mark Facebook fetched in its

To justify its relatively high valuation and fend off concerns about slowing user growth, has emphasized how important Snapchat is to its users, how long they spend on the app and the revenue potential of the emerging trend for young people to communicate with video rather than text.

is set to begin trading on Thursday on the under the symbol
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