Twitter on Thursday said it has filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an Initial Public Offering.
The long-expected announcement arrived, appropriately enough, as a tweet.
We’ve confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale. — Twitter (@twitter) September 12, 2013
The fact that the filing is confidential indicates that Twitter is seeking to go public as an “emerging growth company.” The SEC says emerging growth companies generally have less than $ 1 billion in revenue. Twitter’s prospectus can be expected to provide more specific figures.
Recent estimated have put Twitter’s value at around $ 10 billion. In February, The Wall Street Journal estimated Twitter’s value at $ 12.5 billion. In May, GSV Capital, which owns a stake in Twitter, put Twitter’s value at $ 9.8 billion.
The fact that the filing is confidential indicates that Twitter is seeking to go public as an “emerging growth company.” The SEC says emerging growth companies generally have less than $ 1 billion in revenue. Twitter’s prospectus can be expected to provide more specific figures.