Square IPO Inching Closer

Square may finally stop circling the public equity markets and file its IPO as early as within the next two weeks, Fortune reported Friday (Sept. 25). That would mean that Jack Dorsey may wind up at the helm of two public companies.

The financial publication stated that the payments company will file an S-1 to get the listing ball rolling, citing unnamed, multiple sources.

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As has been widely reported, the company had submitted a confidential filing over the summer, widely seen as a precursor to testing the waters about a public debut on the major U.S. exchanges. As that private filing remains the province of companies with less than $1 billion in annual revenue, Square almost certainly falls below this top line threshold, and major banks, such as Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman, are leading the underwriting.

Post-S-1 filing, an investor roadshow would be next in line for the process, roughly a month after the filing, and that would gauge investor interest and pricing. Of course, noted Fortune, with a twist in the macroeconomic landscape, a public filing may indeed be pushed out, and the stage may be set for rocky sledding amid continued concerns over China and U.S. monetary policy.

Then there’s the continued controversy over Square’s founder, Jack Dorsey, who continues to serve as the company’s chief executive officer, while concurrently acting as interim CEO of Twitter, another outfit for which he is cofounder. The conventional wisdom is that he will eventually helm Twitter full time. But Twitter’s board has stated that it would only embrace a full-time CEO who would make a “full-time commitment” to the social media firm.

Late last week, Square said it would open its fourth office in St. Louis, Missouri, with hiring expansion plans, including a few hundred employees over the next few years.

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