Square, which offers a mobile payment service with credit card readers for phones and tablets, filed on Wednesday with the SEC to raise up to $275 million in an initial public offering. It would be among the highest-valued tech companies to make a public offering this year, according to data from IPO manager Renaissance Capital.
Square is a revolutionizing millions of everyday transactions between buyers and sellers with its free credit card reader for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.
The San Francisco company says revenue rose 51 percent to $560.6 million during the first six months of 2015 from the same months a year ago. Starbucks was clearly Square’s biggest single user, with the deal generating $123 million in transaction revenue for Square in the full year of 2014, but the Starbucks transactions cost Square $150.1 million.
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriters.
The Business Times adds that research firm CB Insights now values Square Square at over $6 billion.
Earlier this month, Dorsey made his job as interim chief at Twitter permanent, giving him the task of steering two major companies in the online sector. That means he’ll have to juggle the roadshow for Square while the social-media company is undergoing a reorganization and refocusing of its main services-the website that lets people send and share 140-character messages and updates.
Dorsey, who owns 24.4 percent of Square, co-founded Twitter in 2006 and has said he’ll continue to run both companies.
As part of the IPO, Dorsey plans to give the proceeds of tens of millions of Square shares to his charitable foundation Start Small Foundation, according to the regulatory filing. “(The dual role) may at times adversely affect his ability to devote time, attention, and effort to Square“, Square said in its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In 2012 Square formed a partnership with the coffee retailer and began processing all payments across their 7,000 locations in exchange for Starbucks investing $25 million in their Series D round. Although it was also listed as a risk factor, Square also pointed toward the recent EMV chip card transition as another milestone and opportunity.
Jack Dorsey is at it again. Starbucks is expected to transition to another payment processor prior to the deal’s official Q3 2016 expiration.
