Pinterest files for the IPO as the battle for advertising dollars intensifies | Digital

Pinterest has confidentially filed an initial public offering in the United States, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The visual search site could have a list by the end of June, said the person who asked not to be identified because the details are not public. No final decision has been taken on the IPO plans, they said.

A representative of Pinterest declined to comment.

EMarketer estimates that Pinterest has generated $ 533 million in advertising revenue in 2018, up 72% over the previous year. The research team adds that the Discovery website will generate more than one billion dollars by 2020.

"The IPO of Pinterest is definitely to watch in the coming months," said Andrew Lipsman, Senior Analyst at eMarketer, in a statement. "As the first major digital media platform to tap markets since Snap, the industry will monitor closely to see if it can withstand surveillance as a public company.

Lipsman adds that Pinterest should be a successful advertising platform, mainly because of "its visual nature and the way users engage in. To be successful, it will have to prove that its advertising is effective at creating brands and driving the market. trade".

Although Pinterest is poised for strong growth, it will account for only 0.6% of the US digital advertising market, with this share increasing slightly to 0.7% in 2020.

Pinterest, where users post and search for images of interest to them, is working with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to direct its registration, which could bring in about $ 1.5 billion, an expert in the field announced last month. The San Francisco-based company has raised $ 150 million during a round of private financing in 2017 for a total valuation of about $ 12.3 billion.

Pinterest's IPO was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

– Bloomberg News