Twitter share sale to raise $1bn

Twitter has announced plans to sell 70 million shares in a bid to raise around $1bn (€725m).

The shares will be priced between $17 and $20, according to amended documents filed to the American stock exchange.

The social networking site will offer 80,500,000 shares, just less than one-fifth of the company’s total outstanding shares before options.

It means the company, which trades under the name TWTR, values itself at as much as $10.9bn.

Last month the microblogging site announced its intention to float – by announcing the news in a tweet.

Twitter currently has 200 million active users, who send more than 500 million tweets a day.

Twitter filed paperwork for the initial public offering (IPO) last month, with experts valuing the site at between $10bn and $15bn, with most bets around the $11bn mark.

Initial public offering sparked constant discussion on Wall Street since Facebook floated in May last year for $104bn.

But the company last month experienced an initial slump in shares amid concerns over how it could boost revenue from the growing number of mobile users.

Experts said Twitter would be hoping to avoid the same issue when it makes its anticipated transition to public ownership. No date for this has been given though observers have suggested the site could be listed at the end of the year.

Twitter, founded in 2006, has grown to become one of the largest and most powerful social media platforms in the world.

The San Francisco-based site is used as a tool by celebrities, journalists and millions around the globe to publish 140-character messages in real-time.

It has 200 million users worldwide who post around 400 million tweets a day.

The company is believed to be on track to post $583m in revenues this year and $1bn next year.