Twitter Boosts IPO Range Amid Strong Investor Demand

By Olivia Oran
and Jim Finkle

Twitter raised the price range for its initial public offering Monday as it seeks to raise up to $1.75 billion, signaling strong demand for the most closely watched IPO since Facebook's (FB) in 2012.

The float comes during a red-hot market for IPOs, which have benefited as equity markets continue to climb and uncertainty has largely subsided around the debt ceiling crisis and political gridlock in Washington.

The microblogging network expects to sell 70 million shares at $23 to $25 each, up from a prior estimate of $17 to $20, it said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The new pricing would value the company at up to $13.6 billion, compared with up to about $11 billion under the previous range.

The IPO is set to price Wednesday, with shares trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Twitter's IPO is fully subscribed, meaning it has attracted more than enough investor interest, according to a source familiar with the offering.

The company plans to close the books on the IPO a day earlier than scheduled -- Tuesday at noon Eastern time -- because of strong demand for its shares, according to two sources with knowledge of the process.

"This is not a surprise," said senior analyst Kim Forrest of Fort Pitt Capital Group, which manages $1.5 billion in assets. %VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%"The people underwriting the IPO have a responsibility to the company selling these shares to extract the highest price it can. It has to walk a fine line to make it attractive to investors."

Twitter management has been traveling the United States over the last week, speaking with potential investors.

The company also said Monday that it had received a letter from IBM (IBM) alleging Twitter infringed at least three U.S. patents held by the Armonk, N.Y.-based tech giant.

This year is shaping up to be the strongest for U.S. IPOs since 2007, with more than 178 companies going public, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Goldman Sachs (GS) is leading Twitter's IPO, alongside Morgan Stanley (MS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM).