Social media platform Reddit priced its initial public offering at the top of its targeted range of US$31 to US$34 per share on Wednesday , raising US$748 million and giving the ailing technology IPO market a much-needed boost.
Excluding the shares sold by existing shareholders, Reddit raised gross proceeds of US$519.4 million. Reuters reported earlier on Thursday that Reddit and its bankers were guiding they could price the IPO at the top of the indicated range or above. The focus of many Reddit users on niche subjects and the platform's somewhat loose approach to content moderation has been a sticking point with some advertisers.
Reddit's 100,000 online forums, dubbed"subreddits", allow conversations on topics ranging from"the sublime to the ridiculous, the trivial to the existential, the comic to the serious", according to co-founder and chief executive Steve Huffman.