 |
A user checks his smartphone in front of a Twitter logo in London. (Bloomberg) |
NEW YORK (AP) ― The New York Stock Exchange has beaten its tech-heavy rival in the quest for the biggest stock debut of the year.
Twitter said Tuesday it will list its shares on the NYSE when the company goes public later this year, choosing it over the traditionally tech-friendly Nasdaq Stock Exchange.
The microblogging service did not say in the regulatory filing when it expects to start trading, but the debut is expected before Thanksgiving. It will use the ticker symbol “TWTR.”
The news is an upset for the Nasdaq, which has traditionally been the place for technology IPOs. The exchange was looking to redeem itself after last year’s Facebook’s IPO, which was marred by trading order failures and delays. As a result, the Securities and Exchange Commission in May fined the exchange $10 million, the largest ever levied against an exchange.
Both exchanges had courted San Francisco-based Twitter heavily.
The NYSE has wooed a growing list of companies recently, including 10 of the 20 largest technology IPOs so far this year, according to research firm Dealogic.
Winning an IPO is always a big deal for an exchange, but a high-profile name like Twitter is an especially coveted prize. As long as Twitter’s IPO goes well, it should give the NYSE an edge in luring other IPOs, particularly in the fertile area of social media.
“We are grateful for Twitter’s confidence in our platform and look forward to partnering with them,” said NYSE spokeswoman Marissa Arnold in a statement.
A Twitter spokesman declined to comment beyond the announcement.
