Twitter Says No Plans for IPO or Fundraising on the Horizon
Investors looking to tweet about a Twitter IPO found their hopes shot down Thursday for at least the next 12 months. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone (pictured), speaking at a conference in Seoul, Korea, rejected talk of an IPO. He also punctured the widely reported notion, according to Reuters, that the popular microblogging social networking site was in talks to sell a 10% stake to JPMorgan Chase for $450 million -- which would have jacked up the site's valuation to $4.5 billion.
Twitter's IPO denial is nothing new, and Stone's comments that the company re are no plans over the next 12 months to raise further funds is not surprising after its $200 million funding round announced last December, which valued the company at $3.7 billion. But Stone's comments suggested that investors may have a long wait and threw cold water on the notion that JPMorgan (JPM) is lining up to fund the company.
Stone's comments sent users of the service into a tweet storm.
Geraldebner tweets: "Twitter has no plans to go public: founder: Biz Stone also dismissed reports JPMorgan Chase & Co. was in talks."
D_K_BRANTLEY tweets: "Thank God - stop giving JPM business! "@NewYorkPost: Twitter says no plans for IPO; $450M sale to JPMorgan 'made up"
Andrewquinn tweets: "Stone tells Rtrs no IPO or need for additional funds...says (surprise) they making plenty money as it is"
Stone, according to the Reuters report, said in reference to an IPO: "We have so many other things before we even think about that."
Little Upside Left?
He added the company's execs are "not even discussing" the topic internally because it's so far out on the horizon. But, then again, maybe they should. In late January, another closely watched social networking site, LinkedIn, filed for an IPO and, depending on its debut, it could lend even more froth to a Twitter IPO.
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And look at Facebook's recent $1.5 billion funding round with Goldman Sachs (GS) in the lead, which put the social networking behemoth's valuation around a whopping $50 billion. Some investors, according to a Bloomberg report, are complaining that such high valuations leave little upside for wannabe Facebook investors once the company does go public.
Facebook and Twitter have also been the topic of buyout rumors. And although the companies had such discussions years ago, Stone says nothing formal has been cooking since, according to the Reuters report.
Twitter is making money, according to Stone, but the co-founder offer no information about the scope of its profits. The company, which generates revenue through advertising, is believed to have pulled in $45 million in revenues last year and is anticipated to bring in $150 million in the current year, according to the report.
Hence, Twitter feels it can sit on the fence with any IPO plans.
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