Pinterest Files Confidentially for U.S. IPO

(Bloomberg) -- Pinterest Inc. has filed confidentially for a U.S. initial public offering and is expected to seek a valuation for the company of at least $12 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The visual search site could list toward the end of June, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the details aren't public. A final decision on the San Francisco-based company's IPO plans hasn't been made, the person said.

A representative for Pinterest declined to comment.

Pinterest, where users post and look for pictures that interest them, is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to lead its listing, which could raise about $1.5 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said last month.

The company raised $150 million in a private funding round in 2017 for a total valuation of about $12.3 billion. The confidential filing and potential timing were reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

Founded in 2010, Pinterest is among the longest-lived of Silicon Valley's so-called unicorns -- startups with a valuation of more than $1 billion -- that are lining up to go public this year or soon after.

Lyft Inc., which announced in December that it had submitted its confidential application, is expected to file its public IPO documents as soon as next week, according to people familiar with the matter. Lyft's larger ride-sharing rival, Uber Technologies Inc., also submitted its confidential application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as it moves toward an offering that could value the company at as much as $120 billion, people familiar with the matter have said.

The tech and app-driven companies that are pursuing plans to go public include Airbnb Inc., according to people familiar with the company's plans. Food delivery company Postmates Inc. and Slack Technologies Inc. also said they have submitted their confidential filings to the SEC.

To contact the reporter on this story: Olivia Zaleski in San Francisco at ozaleski@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Michael Hytha, Anne VanderMey

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