Goldman Sachs And JPMorgan To Underwrite Pinterest’s IPO

Pinterest, the social media operator that is gearing up to launch an initial public offering, has tapped Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.

Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, reported Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan were hired to lead the IPO, which is expected to come later in 2019. According to the report, Pinterest may be able to raise roughly $1.5 billion in a public offering, which sources said will most likely happen after the first half of this year.

The IPO is coming at a time when Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms are facing intense scrutiny by lawmakers and regulators over how they protect the privacy and data of their billions of users. They have also come under fire for a perceived bias against conservatives. Pinterest has been able to avoid all the controversy swirling around the other social media companies.

As of Pinterest’s last fundraising in 2017, Reuters reported it has a valuation of $12 billion and is just one of the many high profile technology-driven startups that are expected to launch IPOs in 2019. Reuters pointed to Uber, Lyft, AirBnB, and Slack as examples of tech startups that are aiming to become publicly traded companies this year.

In 2018 Pinterest, which has been growing at a rapid pace, posted revenue that came in at $700 million, which a person familiar with the matter told Reuters is up 50 percent year over year. In September it reached more than 250 million monthly active users. Pinterest was widely expected to choose its IPO underwriters in January and then launch its IPO in April.

Pinterest makes money off of ads that run alongside its images. Ahead of its expected IPO the company has been stepping up its game and taking on its rivals including Facebook. In the summer it rolled out new collaboration tools to enable users to plan parties and projects from Pinterest. Users can create group boards to plan events and to have conversations with other members via an activity feed.