Slack's address to potential investors of some big clients

The net dollar retention rate is "an important parameter that gives an insight into the long-term value of our subscription contracts and our ability to retain and increase the revenue of our paying customers," the company said. society.

In other words, Slack hopes that once employees of a company start exchanging messages with his department, their colleagues will join them and the company will pay more and more. more to get additional access.

Revenues double

While Slack sometimes shared recurring annual revenues and a few other metrics, his filing gave potential investors a first glimpse of key financial information, revealing the company's slowly shrinking losses in a context of rapid revenue growth. For the fiscal year ended January 31, Slack's sales amounted to $ 401 million, nearly double the $ 221 million recorded for the same period last year. Its net loss decreased slightly from US $ 140 million to US $ 139 million in the same period last year.

Unlike a traditional IPO, Slack will not issue new shares to raise funds for operations.

"Slack still burns money," said Cameron Stanfill, an badyst at PitchBook. "In the absence of additional receipt in the direct listing, the company will be relying on the $ 841 million in cash recorded in the balance sheet from its prolific fundraising with VC, which provide many leads at the rate of US $ 97 million last year free movement of capital.

Slack warned that she would remain vulnerable to competition if she could not keep up with the pace of technology or increase sales. Microsoft is Microsoft's biggest competitor, but also notes that companies such as Alphabet, Cisco Systems, and Facebook are developing related products.

Pinterest, Lyft

Slack's pricing plans are in the form of several high-tech unicorns – private companies with valuations of at least US $ 1 billion – running into government markets.

The digital scrapbooking company Pinterest raised US $ 1.4 billion during its initial public offering, following on the US $ 2.34 billion list from the Lyft company, which was the most important of the year. While Pinterest shares have gained 57% since its debut, Lyft has fallen more than 20% since the IPO bid price.

Uber Technologies, the horse advertising giant, plans to become the largest US IPO of the year. In a statement on Friday, he announced his intention to sell 180 million shares for US $ 44 to US $ 50 each, which would raise up to US $ 9 billion. This offer would give the company a value of 84 billion US dollars based on outstanding shares after the offer, or up to 91.5 billion US dollars when the purchase options Shares, restricted shares or other holdings not included in the total outstanding are taken into account.

In the last two months, in the context of private transactions, Slack shareholders sold shares at prices of up to US $ 25 or US $ 26 per share, which implies a valuation of order of $ 16 billion for society, experts said.

Slack plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SK. The stock could be opened for trading in 30 to 40 days according to a standard schedule for direct listings.

Morgan Stanley has the prestigious task of advising market maker Citadel Securities on a fair price for the opening of Slack & # 39; s shares. The pricing decision will occur after simultaneous auctions of supply and demand on the morning of the stock quote. Last year, Morgan Stanley led the music streaming company Spotify Technology via a similar list.

Bloomberg