Blog Archives

Twitter IPO Filing to Become Public This Week: Sources

9/30/2013

Twitter's S-1 registration statement for its initial public offering will become public this week, according to articles in The Wall Street Journal and on Quartz. This means that Twitter could go public at the end of this month or in November, if the process goes at full speed and the markets don't force a delay (which could be caused by a government shutdown, etc.).

Goldman Sachs is reported to be the "lead left" manager for Twitter's IPO, and JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are also reported to be part of the lead banks for the deal.

Here's a link to my prior post on Twitter - what is known at this point and what is speculation:
http://www.allenlatta.com/1/post/2013/09/twitter-files-for-its-ipo-what-we-know-for-certain-and-speculation.html

Link to The Wall Street Journal story (subscription required): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303464504579106151499047342.html

Link to Twitter IPO article on Quartz:
http://qz.com/129205/twitter-plans-to-make-its-ipo-filing-public-this-week/

0 Comments

Inside The Fall of BlackBerry: The Globe and Mail Article

9/28/2013

0 Comments

The Globe and Mail article "Inside the fall of Blackberry: How the smartphone investor failed to adapt" which appeared yesterday, is an interesting and in-depth look at the mistakes made by the smartphone company that led to its downfall. It's a good article and worth a read. Here's the link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-inside-story-of-why-blackberry-is-failing/article14563602/

0 Comments

New SEC Fundraising (General Solicitation) Rules Take Effect

9/23/2013

0 Comments

New rules relating to fundraising take effect today. These rules were issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") as required by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act ("JOBS Act") that was enacted last year.

My advice to companies and entrepreneurs: Talk with a corporate securities attorney before you start any fundraising activity. The rules are complex and it would be easy to violate them. Violating these rules could carry pretty significant consequences, including possibly unwinding the fundraising after it is completed, civil lawsuits, SEC penalties, and potential criminal punishment.

Here are links to two articles covering these new rules.
The Wall Street Journal:
http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2013/09/23/startups-vcs-now-free-to-advertise-their-fundraising-status/

Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2013/09/23/general-solicitation-ban-lifted-today-three-things-you-must-about-it/

Here's a link to the SEC press release relating to the rules:
http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370539707782#.UkBkOoYsk_Y

Link to the rules: http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/2013/33-9415.pdf

0 Comments

Twitter Files For Its IPO - What We Know For Certain And Speculation

9/13/2013

1 Comment

Twitter announced yesterday (via a tweet) that it had confidentially filed its S-1 registration statement with the SEC for its initial public offering. Since then, the press has gone crazy with speculation over IPO valuation, revenue, timing of the IPO and bankers on the deal. Here we'll try to sift through the facts and the rumors.

IPO Valuation.

What we know for certain: nothing. The only time we'll actually know when the IPO is priced. Having said that, there were reports (see for example, here and here) of private sales of Twitter stock earlier this year and late last year at valuations ranging from $9 to $11 billion. The NY Times quotes a WedBush analyst that Twitter is now being valued at $15-$16 billion based on recent private sales.
Speculation: $10 to $20 billion. See for example, here, here and here.

Revenue.

What we know for certain: Twitter has under $1 billion revenue. We know that because a company must have under $1 billion in revenue to be able to file for an IPO confidentially under the JOBS Act.
Speculation: 2013E revenues of around $600 million and 2014E revenues of close to $1 billion, according to this article in the NY Times.

IPO Timing.

What we know for certain: nothing.
Speculation: Dan Primack of Fortune writes that Twitter's S-1 may be made public within the next few weeks, and that a 2013 IPO is possible.

Bankers.

What we know for certain: nothing.
Speculation: Goldman Sachs is the lead banker. Multiple new sources are reporting this, see here and here for examples.

Overall, all we really know at this point is that Twitter has under $1 billion in revenue. Much more will be known when (and if) its S-1 registration statement is made public.

Here's a link to a good article from the Wall Street Journal's Venture Capital Dispatch blog discussing some of Twitter's private investors, including venture firms Union Square Ventures, Charles River Ventures, Spark Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Benchmark Capital, BlackRock Private Equity Partners, Insight Venture Partners, Institutional Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufiled & Byers.

1 Comment

The Decline of PE Monitoring Fees - Fortune Article

9/6/2013

0 Comments

In yesterday's article "The death of private equity's fee hogs," Dan Primack of Fortune explores the decline of monitoring fees charged by private equity funds to their portfolio companies. In the article, he discusses the recent sharp decline in these fees and the correlation with the recent increase in these fees being paid directly to the limited partners of the fund. As a limited partner, I welcome this trend. This is also in line with the ILPA's best practices guidelines, found in their Private Equity Principles publication. Note that the practice of charging portfolio companies monitoring fees applies in buyout funds, as venture funds have historically not charged monitoring fees to their portfolio companies.

Link to the Fortune article: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/09/05/the-death-of-private-equity-fee-hogs/

Link to the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA): www.ilpa.org
Link to ILPA's Private Equity Best Practices publication:
http://ilpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ILPA-Private-Equity-Principles-version-2.pdf

0 Comments

About this Blog

This Blog is a collection of thoughts on a variety of topics of interest to me, including:

Private Equity
Buyouts
Growth Equity
Venture Capital
Corporate Finance
Investment Banking
IPOs
M&A
Technology
Economics
Law

I hope you find this blog of interest.

Archives

June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
February 2016
January 2016
November 2015
October 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011

Copyright Notice:

All original works on this site are
© 2011-2020 Allen J. Latta. All rights reserved. Neither this website nor any portion thereof may be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express prior written permission of Allen J. Latta.

LP Corner® is a registered trademark of Campton Private Equity Advisors. Used with permission.

DISCLAIMER: Readers of this Blog are not to construe it as investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, and it is not intended to provide the basis for the evaluation of any investment. Readers should consult with their own investment, legal, accounting, tax and other advisors to the determine the benefits and risks of any investment.

Private equity investments involve significant risks, including the loss of the entire investment.

This Blog does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security.

Twitter IPO Filing to Become Public This Week: Sources

Inside The Fall of BlackBerry: The Globe and Mail Article

New SEC Fundraising (General Solicitation) Rules Take Effect

Twitter Files For Its IPO - What We Know For Certain And Speculation

The Decline of PE Monitoring Fees - Fortune Article

Categories

Archives

Allen's
Blog

Glossary of Private Equity Terms

Resources
and Links

About /
Contact