Box Chooses Bankers For 2014 IPO – Report

Box has reportedly selected its bankers ahead of a proposed initial public offering (IPO) in the first half of 2014.

According to Reuters, the cloud storage specialist has chosen Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and JPMorgan Chase for the flotation, which could generate as much as $500 million for the company, which was formed in 2005.

Box is one of a number of startups hoping to emulate Twitter, which recently made 70 million shares available at £16 available last week, valuing the social network at more than £11 billion. It has been reported that Box rejected a takeover advance from Citrix for $500 million.

Box IPO

The company declined to comment to TechWeekEurope, but has previously discussed the possibility of an IPO in the immediate future.

Speaking at Boxworks 2013 in San Francisco in September, Box CEO and co-founder Aaron Levie said an IPO was definitely part of the company’s roadmap, which he would not discuss, and added “our long-term goal is to be an independent, public company.”

However he added it was happy with its current position and was keen to continue its rapid growth while maintaining the same start-up atmosphere, while Box COO Dan Levin told TechWeekEurope that he was “incredibly pleased” with the development of Box as a business.

Box has been expanding into the UK and its London office was opened by the Duke of York last month. It has been accepted by the Government Procurement Service (GPS) onto G-Cloud 4 and has also agreed deals with EE and Gatwick Airport.

Levie said the firm had been “pleasantly surprised” by the takeup of its services and interest in the cloud from British businesses, while he has also suggested Box is looking to other countries for further expansion.

How much do you know about the cloud? Try our quiz!