Snap Seeks Valuation of Up to $22.2 Billion In Highly-Anticipated IPO

Snap set the valuation on its initial public offering at between $19.5 billion and $22.2 billion in what could be the third-biggest technology offering of the past decade, according to industry sources.

As its management works on plans for an investor roadshow, Snap has valued its shares at $14 to $16, reads a report from the Wall Street Journal.

While this is lower than initial estimates of $20-25 billion, the IPO still has the potential to become the largest technology public offering in over a decade since Alibaba Holding raised $25 billion in 2014. It’s also the largest technology IPO in the United States since Facebook.

After confidentially registering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission late last year for an IPO,  Snap Inc filed its IPO registration statement in early February.

Snapchat began as a platform for users to share photos with each other which would quickly disappear, but has since developed its business into an advertiser’s dream, capturing the attention of teenagers and trendy millennials.

Revenues surged to $404.5 million last year from $58.7 million in 2015, but Snap posted a net loss of $514.6 million against $372.9 million a year earlier, and its user growth slowed in the second half of 2016.

“In the way that the flashing cursor became the starting point for most products on desktop computers, we believe that the camera screen will be the starting point for most products on smartphones,” the company wrote in its filing earlier this month.

“This means that we are willing to take risks in an attempt to create innovative and different camera products that are better able to reflect and improve our life experiences.”