Snap Inc. just raised a greater-than-expected $3.4 billion in the largest US tech initial public offering in over two years.
Given that the typical IPO raises less than $500 million, pulling off a sale of this size takes a lot of work. Naturally, Snap drafted some heavyweight banks with huge sales forces for the job.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs led the deal, along with a long list of banks including the likes of JPMorgan, Allen & Company, and UBS.
But the list also includes a less familiar name: Connaught (UK) Limited.
Connaught, a small London firm set up in 2014, wasn't named in Snap's first IPO filing in early February. But it did appear in Snap's updated filing just a few days ago. It is listed as having sold 307,692 shares, worth about $5.2 million at the IPO price of $17.
There's not a lot of information out there about Connaught. It has a basic website with a mailing address and an email address. It was incorporated December 29, 2014, and has three directors: Ian Osborne, Alex Usher-Smith, and Dr. Marcel Reichart.
Osborne and Usher-Smith, ages 33 and 35, specialize in advising tech, media, and internet companies. Osborne set up Osborne & Partners, an international strategic advisory firm that once hosted a Davos, Switzerland, party with tech billionaire Sean Parker and Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff. Usher-Smith is a former Lazard and Greenhill banker.
Reichart is the executive vice president of digital development and partnerships at the German media company Bertelsmann, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The role on the Snap IPO is a coup for the firm, which has fewer than 10 employees, according to its LinkedIn profile. Connaught is not a US registered broker-dealer, and so any shares it sold in the US had to pass through Global Alliance Securities.
Osborne and Usher-Smith did not return messages seeking comment in time for publication.
