Cloud-data company Snowflake attracts Berkshire, Salesforce to technology IPO
Add BT as a preferred sourceSNOWFLAKE Inc plans to raise as much as US$2.38 billion in one of this year's biggest technology initial public offerings that has already attracted the likes of Warren Buffett.
The San Mateo, California-based company said in a filing on Tuesday that it will market 28 million shares for US$75 to US$85 each. At the top of that range, Snowflake would be valued at US$23.7 billion based on the outstanding shares listed in the filing.
That would give the cloud-data company a valuation of almost twice that in its last private funding round of US$12.4 billion.
Timed with the IPO, Berkshire Hathaway Inc and Salesforce Ventures, an arm of Salesforce.com Inc, will each buy US$250 million the company's Class A common stock in a private placement. Berkshire has also agreed to buy 4 million shares in a secondary transaction, according to the filing.
Snowflake raised US$479 million in February at a valuation of US$12.4 billion from backers including Dragoneer Investment Group and Salesforce Ventures. Other investors include Iconiq Capital, Sequoia, Altimeter Capital, Madrona Venture Group, Redpoint Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures.
Other technology companies are also gearing up for their listings once the US holiday weekend is over. JFrog Inc, a technology company that makes tools for software developers, set terms on Tuesday for its up to US$428 million IPO, according to a filing.
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Cloud software platform Sumo Logic Inc also filed on Tuesday to sell 14.7 million shares at US$17 to US$21 apiece, or US$310.8 million, its listing document shows.
Meanwhile, the two direct listing candidates, Palantir Technologies Inc and Asana Inc are hosting investor days on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, the companies said on their websites.
Snowflake, which announced an enhanced strategic partnership with Salesforce in June, said it had more than 3,000 customers as of July 31, including 146 of the Fortune 500, according to its filing.
The company said it lost US$171 million on revenue of US$242 million for the six months ended July 31, compared with a loss of US$177 million on revenue of US$104 million for the same period last year.
The Snowflake offering is being led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley. Snowflake plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SNOW. BLOOMBERG
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