Berkshire Hathaway and Salesforce have both committed to investing in the approaching initial public offering of cloud computing company Snowflake. By acquiring two big-name backers, Snowflake's initial public offering is set to be an exciting one and might attract more participants than initially expected.
In a regulatory filing submitted this week the California-based technology company said it had secured the commitments of the two heavyweight investors. It said both companies had agreed to make separate investments once the company goes public on the New York Stock Exchange.
Snowflake said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Warren Buffett and Marc Benioff's companies had each committed to buying $250 million in its stock. However, the two companies will invest in private placements after Snowflakes lists on the New York exchange.
In its prospectus, Snowflake said it planned to sell 28 million shares. There will also be an over-allotment option for an additional 4.2 million shares depending on demand. The company has yet to finalize its pricing but it did say it should be within the $75 to $85 a share.
Based on the higher-end of the range, the company might bolster its market valuation to more than $23.7 billion. That is nearly double its private market valuation of $12.4 billion in February. Snowflake is aiming to raise up to $2.7 billion through the deal. If underwriters exercise the over-allotment option, the company could raise upward of about $3 billion.
According to Dealogic, a successful initial public offering would make Snowflake one of the world's largest technology debuts. Since it was founded in 2012 Snowflake has grown into one of the world's largest providers of cloud computing services. Some of its more prominent partners include Google, Amazon and Microsoft. The company has said it now had about 2,000 employees working at more than 12 locations worldwide.
