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I have never heard of a confidential IPO, how does this differ from any other IPO that is in the news?

Starting with the JOBS Act (in 2012), certain smaller companies under a revenue threshold were allowed to file their initial draft registration statements with the SEC confidentially. It was meant to encourage startups to go public and avoid the public eye while they negotiated their registration statements with the SEC. It all goes public before the IPO.

Thanks for this information.

It's just an earlier announcement. The banks involved leak it almost every time.

Why is it in their interest to leak the announcement? Wouldn't that discourage other companies from filing through them in the future?

The leak builds up hype and investor curiosity about the IPO. It's like how visits by politicians to an area are 'leaked' so that the press is there to cover them.

You may be assuming that every employee of a company cares about the company's best interests. I find it unlikely that a janitor, intern, disgruntled employee, etc. would be unwilling to spill juicy details for a small fee or feeling of importance.

It's an intentional leak. Part of the "game".

If you send a press release, everyone thinks you're lying and boring.

If it's "leaked" it's sexy and ends up on TechCrunch as a "Report: Anonymous Source shows interesting financials"

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