Twitter increased the price range of its initial public offering by 25 per cent yesterday in response to huge investor demand, putting it on course to secure a valuation of more than $17bn at its stock market debut this week.
Shares in the microblogging network will now be offered for between $23 and $25, giving the company a valuation of up to $17.4bn including restricted stock units and options. It will be the largest technology IPO since Facebook went public last year and is expected to lead to a new wave of listings.
If Twitter achieves the top end of the valuation, it would increase the size of the offering to $2bn – more than Google raised when it floated on the stock market. It is selling up to 80.5m shares or about 13 per cent of the company. Google raised $1.9bn when it floated in 2004, giving the search company a valuation of $23bn.