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Slack reportedly planning early 2019 IPO at valuation ‘well in excess’ of $7B
Slack Technologies Inc. could file for an initial public offering in as little as a few months’ time.
That’s according to report published in the Wall Street Journal this morning, which cited anonymous sources saying the team chat juggernaut is “actively preparing” for a stock market debut. Slack is said to be looking to go public in the first half of 2019 with with plans to launch the IPO as early as the first quarter if circumstances allow.
According the Journal’s tipsters, the company has not yet signed up any banks to underwrite the offering but could do so soon. Slack reportedly expects to float on the stock market with a market capitalization “well in excess of roughly $7 billion,” the valuation it received after its most recent funding round last month. The company reeled in $427 million from a consortium led by Dragoneer Investment Group and General Atlantic.
The sources said Slack had originally started exploring an initial public offering well before the August round, back in 2017. The period since has seen its hugely popular team chat service continue to grow rapidly thanks to strong interest among business workers. Slack passed 8 million daily active users in May, up from 6 million last September.
The company’s rapid growth is fueled partially by an aggressive acquisition strategy. Slack has made three acquisitions in the past two months, the most significant of which was the July purchase of Atlassian Corp. PLC’s rival Hipchat and Stride chat services.
Today’s report adds Slack to the growing list of tech companies that are expected or have stated they plan to go public next year. Uber Technologies Inc. has said that it’s “on track” for a 2019 IPO, while Lyft Inc. reportedly intends to stage a stock market debut as soon as March or April.
The companies are also following a long lineup of tech firms that have already gone public in recent quarters. The past 10 days alone witnessed two significant IPOs: Online ticketing giant Eventbrite Inc. hit the stock market last week, raising $230 million from investors, and polling provider SurveyMonkey Inc. followed suit on Wednesday.
Photo: Scott Schiller/Flickr
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