Palantir Technologies Inc is planning to pursue a direct listing of its stock in September, instead of taking the initial public offering route, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
What Happened
The Peter Thiel-owned company will sell its investors’ shares on the first day of trading, instead of waiting for the lock-in period to expire, as is the norm with IPOs, according to Bloomberg.
The software analysis company would not raise any capital in the direct listing. Palantir disclosed to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in July that it had raised $550 million of its targeted $961 million capital.
Sompo Holdings Inc SMPNY and Fujitsu Ltd FJTSY had funded Palantir with $500 million and $50 million respectively.
The company has been avoiding going public thus far so as to stay away from public scrutiny related to its valuation and operations, while it aimed at being profitable. people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Why It Matters
Palantir was co-founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, best known as the co-founder of Paypal Technologies Inc. PYPL and an angel investor in Facebook Inc. FB. It achieved a valuation of $20 billion in 2015, even though some investors have sold blocks of the company’s shares valued at far less, Bloomberg noted.
The company has the United States government and the Central Intelligence Agency among its clientele. It was involved in the search for the now-deceased terrorist Osama Bin Laden.
Palantir expects its revenue to grow to $1 billion in 2020 and $1.5 billion in 2021.
In 2015, Palantir told investors that by the time it goes public, its revenues would be in the range of $4 billion, according to Reuters.
Photo courtesy: Dan Taylor via Wikimedia
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