Palantir Technologies, the US-based big data analytics provider backed by insurance firm Sompo Holdings, IT services provider Fujitsu and data analytics technology producer Relx, confidentially filed to go public yesterday.
The company has not revealed a target for the offering, which market it plans to list on and whether it will pursue an initial public offering or a direct listing. Morgan Stanley is set to take a leading role in the listing according to Reuters.
Founded in 2004, Palantir has developed technology capable of parsing through large quantities of data to find patterns that can raise actionable information. It generally provides dedicated staff to corporate and governments clients as part of its services.
The company has disclosed about $2.45bn in funding, most recently securing $50m from Fujitsu and $500m from Sompo last month.
Although the valuation at which the corporates invested was not revealed, Palantir’s shares were reported to be trading at a $10bn to $12bn valuation on private markets earlier this year.
Palantir closed $900m in funding from undisclosed investors in 2016, the first $880m coming at a $20.3bn valuation the previous year. REV, the Relx subsidiary then known as Reed Elsevier Ventures, had led the company’s $35m series B round in 2009.
Other investors in Palantir include Artis Ventures, Glynn Capital Management, GSV Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Founders Fund, Tiger Global Management, Khazanah Nasional, 137 Ventures, Sozo Ventures, Kortschak Investments, Ulu Ventures and SP Investments Management.
