Roku is planning to go public before the end of the year, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
The Los Gatos, Calif., company behind the popular set-top television boxes and other streaming devices has hired three investment banks — Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc. and Allen & Co. — to underwrite its initial public offering, in which it is looking to raise $1 billion, per the report. A Roku spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Roku was early to the video streaming game, launching its first device in 2008, a year after Apple released the first generation of its Apple TV set-top box. The company announced on Wednesday that it has reached 15 million monthly active accounts, up 43 percent year-over-year, that have streamed nearly 7 billion hours in the first half of the year, up 61 percent from the same period last year.
Roku has long offered an open system for media and entertainment apps such as Netflix, HBO Now and Amazon Prime Video. It currently offers more than 5,000 streaming channels.
The company has raised more than $200 million in funding since 2008 from investors that include News Corp., Viacom Sky and Hearst. It reported earlier this year that it had $400 million in revenue in 2016.
A Roku IPO would come amid choppy early outings for newly published Blue Apron and Snap, which dipped below its IPO price this week. It would also be the second time that the company, led by CEO Anthony Wood, has attempted to go public. It also considered an IPO in 2014.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
