Before Megaupload was shut down by the United States government, the company was preparing to go public and enter the U.S. stock market with a multi-billion dollar initial public offering, TorrentFreak reported on Tuesday. Megaupload was reportedly having discussions with top auditors and several of the world’s largest investments banks, however these plans ended abruptly in January. The company’s founder Kim Dotcom, along with six others, were arrested and charged with racketeering, copyright infringement and money laundering. Read on for more.
According to Dotcom, Megaupload was negotiating with the world’s top accounting firms and many large international banks were interested in underwriting the IPO. The company was also considering the option of becoming publicly listed through a reverse merger, or by buying a company that is already listed.
“I started providing advice to Megaupload management on exploring and researching options on becoming publicly listed by IPO or back door listing and other fund-raising options in early 2011,” Hong Kong-based corporate advisor Robert Lim said. “I understand the management and some of the shareholders had been discussing and exploring these options even prior to this time.”
Lim continued by saying that “Megaupload management had discussion with a number of the ‘Big Four’ largest international professional accountancy firms , which handle the vast majority of audits for publicly traded companies. These Big Four firms were invited to be the auditor and to work together with management to build out a road map to prepare Megaupload for an IPO.”
Several Megaupload executives are currently awaiting trail and possible extradition to the U.S. The company’s legal team will most likely reference its extensive plans to enter the stock market during its defense and argue that it was running a legitimate and profitable business.
