Comcast-owned NBCUniversal is one of the biggest believers in Snapchat parent company Snap Inc., investing $500 million in the social media company’s IPO, according to a report from CNBC.
Snap shares started trading at $24 on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning, more than 40 percent above the initial offering price of $17. The IPO valued the company at approximately $24 billion, making it the largest valuation for a U.S. tech company IPO since Facebook in 2012, but the opening price pushed Snap’s valuation to approximately $33 billion on Thursday morning.
The stock closed slightly ahead of its opening price at $24.48 per share, up 44 percent from the IPO price. As noted by CNBC, Thursday’s surge made NBCUniversal’s $500 million investment worth $720 million.
Snap shares climbed again Friday morning hitting a high of $29.24.
Snap and NBC have worked together before. For the Rio Summer Olympics last year, NBC offered the bulk of its coverage online, and it worked with Snap to drum up interest among younger viewers. NBC also airs various programs on Snap.
The Snap investment is part of a broader push into digital media. CNBC reports that NBC was the only media company to make a major stake in Snap, and it has invested about $1.5 billion in digital companies such as BuzzFeed and Vox Media over the last 18 months.
