Pinterest sets IPO to raise up to $1.5 billion

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Pinterest said Monday it would raise up to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in its stock offering, setting a price range that trims the value of the online visual discovery startup.

San Francisco-based Pinterest's price range of 15 to 17 U.S. dollars a share would give it an estimated valuation of some 11 billion U.S. dollars, below the 12 billion U.S. dollars in its most recent private funding round.

The pricing suggests caution about the big venture-backed "unicorns," or startups worth more than one billion U.S. dollars, after a mixed response to the Wall Street debut of ride-hailing firm Lyft.

Pinterest, a virtual bulletin board that connects people with interests including food, fashion, travel and lifestyle, plans to trade under the symbol PINS on the New York Stock Exchange.

Pinterest has some 250 million worldwide users but its path to profitability remains uncertain.

Pinterest lost 63 million U.S. dollars in 2018 on revenue of 755.9 million U.S. dollars. That compared with a loss of 130 million U.S. dollars on 473 million U.S. dollars in 2017 revenue, according to the filing with Securities and Exchange Commission.

Launched in 2010, Pinterest brings in money from its role in online shopping and from advertising.

The research firm eMarketer expects Pinterest's global ad revenues to hit one billion U.S. dollars this year, making up just 0.3 percent of the total digital ad spend.

In addition to making money from ads, Pinterest seeks to become a force in e-commerce by enabling users to click on images to purchase items they see.

Like several other startups, Pinterest will use a dual-class share structure that enables the founders, including chief executive Ben Silbermann, to retain control.

Source(s): AFP