US-based data mining service Palantir intends to confidentially file for an initial public offering in the next few weeks that would enable analytics and information provider Relx to exit, Reuters has reported.
The company is yet to hire investment banks or to decide conclusively whether it will float in a traditional IPO or opt for direct listing, but could go public as soon as September this year, according to people familiar with the matter.
Palantir has built technology that can mine and analyse huge amounts of structured and unstructured data in order to locate insights into an organisation’s functioning. It generally provides its systems to customers along with the staff required to manage their functionality.
News of the company’s plans follows reports in September 2019 that it was seeking $1bn to $3bn in funding in a round that would increase its valuation from $20.3bn in its last publicly disclosed round, in 2015, to between $26bn and $30bn.
However, Palantir never ended up raising that money, and sources told Reuters its shares have been trading in private markets at a valuation of $10bn to $12bn in recent weeks.
The company secured $880m in the 2015 round, raising the cash from undisclosed participants before adding $20m from an unnamed investor the following year according to a regulatory filing. It has raised about $1.9bn since being founded in 2013.
Relx led Palantir’s $35m series B round in 2009 through REV, the corporate venturing arm then called Reed Elsevier Ventures.
Other investors in the company include Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel, Khazanah Nasional, 137 Ventures, Tiger Global Management, SP Investments Management, Artis Ventures, Glynn Capital Management, GSV Ventures, Kortschak Investments, Sozo Ventures and Ulu Ventures.
