Reddit eyes up Wall Street debut

In a brief statement, the social media platform, a specialist in online message boards, said it had filed a confidential draft registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission "relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock".

It continued: "The initial public offering is expected to occur after the SEC completes it review process, subject to market and other conditions.

"We are in a quiet period, and for regulatory reasons we cannot say anything further."

Speculation that Reddit was considering an IPO has been growing for several months, with Reuters reporting in September that it was looking to achieve a valuation of around $15bn.

The San Francisco-based firm was valued at $10bn in a private fundraising in the summer.

However, as yet neither the number of shares likely to be offered, nor the price range, have been set.

Founded in 2005 by chief executive Steve Huffman and investor Alexis Ohanian, Reddit has around 52m daily active users and over 100,000 communities or sub-Reddits. It reported advertising revenue of $100m for the first time in the second quarter, a 192% surge on the same period a year previously.

Although Reddit is far smaller and more niche that mainstream rivals like Twitter and Facebook, earlier this year it made headlines after retail investors swamped its message boards looking for tips trading so-called meme stocks such as GameStop and Robinhood Markets. Meme stocks are ones that gain profile and investors through social media platforms.