Twitter adds banks to underwriting lineup ahead of IPO: sources

Olivia Oran
Men are silhouetted against a video screen with a Twitter logo as they pose with Samsung S3 and S4 smartphones in this photo illustration taken in the central Bosnian town of Zenica on August 14, 2013. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Files

By Olivia Oran (Reuters) - Twitter has added a handful of banks to its underwriting syndicate to help sell shares during its much anticipated initial public offering. Goldman Sachs will serve as the lead underwriter on the deal, while other banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp also have a role, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. It was not immediately clear what role these other banks will play. Twitter is in the process of adding additional banks to the syndicate, the people said. The sources could not be named because the information has not officially been disclosed to the public. Twitter and the banks all declined to comment. The Twitter IPO is a major win for Goldman after Morgan Stanley led the Facebook Inc IPO last May. Goldman Sachs tops the league tables for U.S. listed technology IPOs so far this year, up from its previous No. 5 spot, according to Thomson Reuters data. Morgan Stanley, however, has fallen to the No. 4 position. Goldman has worked on recent technology IPOs including Silver Spring Networks Inc and Ruckus Wireless Inc. Besides Facebook, Morgan Stanley has also led IPOs for Zynga Inc, Groupon Inc and LinkedIn Corp. (Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York, additional reporting by Nicola Leske; Editing by Ken Wills)