Square, the US-based mobile payment technology provider backed by payment services firm Visa and coffee chain Starbucks, has set the range for an initial public offering expected to raise up to approximately $404m.
The company plans to issue 29.7 million shares priced at $11 to $13 each, with stockholder Start Small Foundation set to sell an extra 1.35 million shares.
The $13 figure values Square at up to $4.2bn, 30% less than the $6bn valuation at which it raised $150m in an October 2014 series F round.
Founded in 2009, Square produces technology that enables payments to be made to anyone with a mobile device, and also provides merchant aggregation services for small businesses.
The company had raised $490m in equity funding as of the series F round, which was backed by GIC, Goldman Sachs and Rizvi Traverse Management.
Visa provided an undisclosed amount of funding for Square in 2011 as part of a strategic partnership, while Starbucks, Ritzi Traverse and Citi Ventures, the strategic investment arm of financial services firm Citi, took part in the company’s $200m series D round in 2012, closed at a $3.3bn valuation.
None of Starbucks, Visa or Citi hold a stake of 5% or more in Square. Its largest shareholder is Khosla Ventures, which will have its 16.9% stake diluted to 15.5% in the offering, while other notable investors include JP Morgan Chase (a 5% stake post-IPO), Ritzi Traverse (4.9%) and Sequoia Capital (4.8%).