Morning Report: Dropbox Picks Up New Credit Line Ahead Of IPO Rumors (Again)

Morning Report: Dropbox is in the process of opening a $600 million credit line ahead of its IPO. It’s not the first time it’s done this, and the move mirrors Twitter’s actions right before its own IPO.

Dropbox is working to open a $600 million credit line, according to Bloomberg, who reports that the deal should wrap up on Monday. The facility, according to the report, provides “flexibility as the cloud-storage company explores a public offering as soon as this year.”

Bloomberg goes on to note that this isn’t the first time that Dropbox has dealt with such a facility. Indeed, going back in time to 2014, here’s CNBC:

Look carefully. That story isn’t from this morning; it’s from over three years ago.

If it feels slightly surreal that we are again discussing Dropbox as an IPO candidate in relation to a new debt facility, here’s this morning’s Bloomberg headline:

Tech is, as always, a flat circle.

Regardless, this time around, it appears Dropbox has a credible shot at going public. Its revenue numbers and profit benchmarks are out in the media, and its on-again, off-again rival Box has rebounded in the public market, giving Dropbox valuation breathing room from a comp perspective.

The real question now is when Dropbox will actually go public. Now seems reasonable enough, with markets at record highs and public investors showing an appetite for yet-unprofitable tech companies. Then again, Dropbox might want just a few more quarters to grow. I’m not currently hearing credible thoughts in either direction, at least recently.

One last historical mote from that aged CNBC piece for taste:

Back then Twitter was more than three times as much per share. How quickly the fallen.

Today in the Crunchbase Daily:

Rover and DogVacay merge

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• The US Congress’s vote this week to stop implementation of Obama-era privacy protection rules for broadband subscribers doesn’t seem to be impacting Wall Street’s perception of ISPs or advertising and e-commerce giants. Investors in ISPs, big search, social networking, and online retailers have seemingly shrugged off the rule changes, according to a Crunchbase News analysis.

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