Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, has chosen bankers for its initial public offering.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will lead the deal, while JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Allen & Co., Barclays, and Credit Suisse will be joint bookrunners.
Bloomberg's Sarah Frier and Alex Barinka first reported the news.
The photo-sharing company could list as soon as March at a valuation of $25 billion or more, people familiar with the matter have told Business Insider.
The March timing would be a best-case scenario, and could depend on the outcome of the US election and the state of the capital markets, one of the people said. Still, it is seen as best positioned to approach the IPO markets early in the year among tech companies expected to float their shares in 2017, according to another person.
Snap is one of the most hotly anticipated tech IPOs since Alibaba's $25 billion listing in 2014, and it's approaching amid a slump in new listings from Silicon Valley. Bankers have been courting the company for months in anticipation of a deal.
Snap has told investors that it expects to make between $250 million and $350 million in advertising revenue this year, according to The Wall Street Journal. A recent eMarketer report predicted the company would near $1 billion in revenue in 2017— meaning a $25 billion IPO would be priced at 25 times its projected revenue numbers.
With annual revenue under $1 billion, Snap could file its Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups, or JOBS, Act. In such a scenario, initial filing would be confidential.
CEO Evan Spiegel and cofounder Bobby Murphy each own stakes worth about $4 billion at a $25 billion valuation, according to CNBC.
SEE ALSO: Snap is looking for someone to oversee its stock plan ahead of its big IPO
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