Reddit says it filed confidentially for US IPO

Reddit, the social media and news platform that helped fuel this year’s meme stock frenzy, said it has confidentially filed for an initial public offering.

The San Francisco-based company said Wednesday in a statement that the number of shares and proposed price range for an IPO haven’t been determined. It said the listing is expected to occur after the US Securities and Exchange Commission completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions.

The company didn’t disclose what valuation it would seek in the IPO.

Details of Reddit’s operations and finances will be reported later in a public filing if it continues to pursue an IPO.

The website, which hosts message boards on a wide variety of topics and lets users vote on the posts they like, saw a surge of interest this year after a forum on the site, WallStreetBets, jolted the stock market. The trading frenzy whipsawed the prices of GameStop, AMC Entertainment Holdings and silver.

Reddit hired its first chief financial officer in March. The company generated advertising revenue of $100m for the first time in the second quarter, nearly triple what it was a year earlier, Reddit said in a statement in August. It’s now seeking to push deeper into audio and video, where ad rates tend to command a premium.