Square files for an IPO, but questions over Dorsey persist

Just a week after Twitter officially announced Square CEO Jack Dorsey as its permanent chief executive and questions were raised about his ability to run two multi-billion companies simultaneously, the story has ramped up a gear.

One of the major concerns cited from the outset was Square’s IPO – rumours of the payment processing company wanting to go public have been circling around for some time and many people questioned whether it would be wise to have a CEO who may not be able to dedicate all his focus on the public offering.

Whether it is wise or not, it’s happening, as Square has officially said it has publicly filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of its Class A common stock.

Goldman, Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley, and J.P. Morgan are acting as lead joint book-running managers for the proposed offering. Barclays, Deutsche Bank Securities, Jefferies, RBC Capital Markets, and Stifel are acting as additional book-running managers for the proposed offering, and LOYAL3 Securities, Inc. is acting as a co-manager.

To allay fears on the Twitter front, the social media platform has appointed former Google exec Omid Kordestani as its executive chairman.

By filing for an IPO, Square – which has recently been valued $6 billion – allowed people to access its financials. The company stated that its net revenue grew by 51 per cent to $560.6 million in the first six months of 2015.

In the company’s filing, it said, “We work to democratize commerce—leveling the playing field for sellers of all sizes. Our focus on technology and design allows us to create products and services that are accessible, intuitive, and easy-to-use. We set attractive and transparent pricing, and we accept approximately 95% of sellers who seek to process payments with Square.”

Square also mentioned the ‘opportunity’ created by the recent liability shift.

“The shift to both EMV and contactless payments creates an opportunity for providers of more modern and lower cost POS solutions to displace legacy systems, as sellers upgrade to take advantage of increased security, lower financial loss, and an improved buyer experience.”

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