Snapchat IPO — Snap Inc. Quietly Filed For IPO On Election Day: Report

Snap Inc. quietly filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) just before the U.S. election, sources “close to the matter” said Tuesday.

Reuters reported that the California-based parent company of the Snapchat app filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 8, 2016, and opted to keep its filing confidential under the U.S. Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, which allows companies with less than $1 billion in revenue to keep financials confidential. The company has chosen Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to lead its offering.

The company is expected to raise $25 billion from its IPO. It seems as if the company is working to keep information about the IPO under wraps, especially since the timing of the filing coincided with the U.S. election. Sources have not been named and the company has declined to comment on the filing, the report added.

Snapchat raised $1.81 billion in May, raising its total valuation to $20 billion. Current investors in the company include General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, T. Rowe Price and Lone Pine.

The company has also diversified into hardware with its $130 Spectacles - video camera sunglasses that connect wirelessly to a smartphone and capture and send photos and video to the device from a human eyesight point of view. Google's investment arm, CapitalG, disclosed an investment in Snapchat on Nov. 3 and also showcased Snapchat logo on its page.

The company is expected start offering shares as soon as March 2017, WallStreetJournal reported in October.