Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Salesforce back Snowflake IPO
Berkshire, Salesforce plan $250M investments
Snowflake Inc.’s plans to raise up to $2.38 billion in one of the biggest tech initial public offerings of the year has attracted some big-time investors, including Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
The San Mateo, Calif.-based software-solutions provider plans to sell 28 million shares at a price between $75 and $85 apiece. The company would have a valuation of $23.7 billion at the high end.
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Snowflake was last valued at $12.4 billion following a funding round in February that was led by Salesforce.
A Snowflake filing released Tuesday afternoon showed the Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of Salesforce.com, both agreed to buy $250 million worth of shares at the IPO price through a private placement. The midpoint of the range would result in each company buying 3.125 million shares.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRK.B | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. | 477.23 | -5.85 | -1.21% |
| CRM | SALESFORCE INC. | 330.92 | +0.51 | +0.15% |
Berkshire also agreed to purchase an additional 4.04 million shares from an existing shareholder at the IPO price.
The company’s net loss for the six months ended July 31 narrowed to $171 million from $177 million the year prior. At the same time, revenue was up 133% to $224 million.
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Snowflake shares are anticipated to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange later this year under the ticker SNOW.