While the smart speaker segment is currently dominated by the big names in tech such as Amazon and Google, Sonos has been working its way up the hierarchy by teaming up with those same companies. Last October, the company launched Sonos One, its first smart speaker powered by Amazon's Alexa personal assistant, with plans to incorporate Google Assistant into its devices this year as well as Apple's Siri later on. For consumers, that means they will no longer have to bother picking which smart speaker to buy as Sonos will offer them all in the future once those integrations are complete.
Sonos not only seeks to bolster its offerings for customers, but also to add value for investors by planning to go public in the next few months. According to a new report by The Wall Street Journal, Sonos has quietly filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and aims to begin trading as early as June or July.
The IPO is expected to raise the consumer electronics firm's market value up to $3 billion, with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs supposedly leading the offering. It's worth noting that Sonos recently raised nearly $110 million in funding from private investors such as Index Ventures and KKR & Co. Patrick Spence, Sonos' CEO, also previously said the company's Playbase wireless speaker for television played a key role in boosting its 2017 revenue to pass the $1 billion mark.
With the upcoming IPO, Sonos is supposed to generate hundred millions of dollars in proceeds from the trading, though its share pricing remains subject to change in the lead-up to the start of the IPO. Of course, in the absence of an official announcement from the company, this news should still be taken with a grain of salt.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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