Twitter has chosen the New York Stock Exchange for its forthcoming initial public offering, dealing a blow to the technology-focused Nasdaq market.
The social media group revealed it had picked the larger exchange in an update to its float prospectus, which also showed a bump in advertising revenues but decelerating growth in users.
Twitter had 232 million monthly active users by 30 September, up from 218 million at the end of June. This represented a quarter-on-quarter increase of 6.13%, down from 6.9% the previous quarter and an average of over 10% in the previous six quarters.
Revenue for the nine months to September grew to $422m (£264m), up from $205m the year before. But increased marketing costs meant net losses widened from $71m to $134m.
After bungling Facebook's high-profile float last year, Nasdaq was unable to persuade Twitter to join Google and Apple on its roster of quoted stocks.
An 11th-hour intervention by the Nasdaq chief executive, Robert Greifeld, who according to Reuters flew to Twitter's San Francisco headquarters on 4 October to make a pitch in person, was ultimately unsuccessful.
In a statement, Nasdaq said it "wished Twitter well". Computer glitches delayed the start of trading in Facebook shares in May last year, and left many investors with orders processed wrongly or not at all.
In August, confidence in the robustness of Nasdaq's IT systems was shaken further when it was forced to suspend trading for three hours.
With its pre-IPO investor roadshow expected to begin on 28 October, Twitter has decided to join professional networking site LinkedIn and internet radio Pandora Media on the NYSE.
"This is a decisive win for the NYSE. We are grateful for Twitter's confidence in our platform and look forward to partnering with them," said Scott Cutler, head of the exchange's listings business.
The latest filing shows Twitter's US monthly users accelerated in September, reaching nearly 53 million compared with 49 million in June and 48 million in March.
Advertising revenues increased 123% during the quarter, said analyst Brian Wieser at Pivotal Research Group, which outstripped his 98% growth forecast. "This represents a very solid pace of growth," he said.
This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk
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