New York-based blockchain software developer R3, which leads a large consortium of financial institutions, is reviewing the possibility of making an initial public offering (IPO), sources told Bloomberg.
The unnamed people claimed that the firm was in talks with advisers about going public, but there was no final decision. Also, one person said that several buyers had shown interest in R3.
The decision on R3’s future ownership will be taken collectively by R3 CEO David Rutter and the firm’s investors, including Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC).
However, in a public statement R3 doesn’t want to go into details:
“We’re not surprised about the speculation given the success of Corda, but an IPO is not a path we’re pursuing at this time. Our mission from the start was to deliver a blockchain solution for the widest possible business community, and any decision we make will have that goal in mind.”
The R3 ecosystem includes over 200 companies, including giants like Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Intel, Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP), Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn), Barclays (LON:BARC), and Bank of Canada. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) left the consortium in 2016, followed by JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) in 2017. There is a risk that more members might leave the group if new investors would come up with radical changes in R3’s upcoming products and features. However, the same changes might bring in other members.
Blockchain is a technology that is currently going mainstream, with more and more companies figuring out that it will become indispensable for various use cases. Thus, building a blockchain infrastructure right now can significantly boost companies’ competitiveness.
The distributed ledger technology (DLT) can speed up transactions, reduce the role and number of intermediaries, increase security, and cut costs, among others. R3, which also has offices in London, Singapore, and Brazil, is offering its DLT platform called Corda. Earlier this week, the company released its commercial version of Corda with a built-in blockchain app firewall.
R3 executives said that the company saw significant revenue. However, former employees revealed that the firm might be out of money after major players like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan left the consortium.
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