Box Inc. publicly files for hotly anticipated IPO

SAN FRANCISCO -- Box Inc. has made public its plans to raise up to $250 million in an initial public offering, setting the stage for one of the most hotly anticipated offerings to come out of Silicon Valley so far this year.

Box said it plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BOX.

The Los Altos, Calif., online storage company plans to use at least half of the net proceeds for sales and marketing and other initiatives to expand its business as it faces growing competition from technology giants such as Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. and well-funded start-ups such as Dropbox Inc.

Box filed confidential papers for an IPO in January, taking advantage of a law that allows start-ups to avoid public scrutiny for a time.

The company, which handles online storage for businesses, made the filing public Monday.

In the filing, Box said revenue was $124.2 million for the year that ended Jan. 31, up from $58.8 million the previous year.

Its loss widened to $168.9 million, from $112.8 million, as Box ramped up spending on sales and marketing 73%. Box said it has $109 million in cash on hand.

The company said it has 25 million registered users and 34,000 organizations as customers.

ALSO:

Box courts Hollywood with help from Oseary, Kutcher

Online storage service Box is courting Hollywood, music industry

Facebook refused to limit hiring of Google employees, Sheryl Sandberg says