• Boston Business Journal, Wednesday, February 19, 2014 1:07 PM

Boston-based Wayfair.com has chosen four banks as underwriters for its planned initial public offering, which could take place as soon as this spring, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The report named Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup and Allen & Co. as the banks that have been selected to handle the IPO so far.

The move "reflects Wayfair's desire to proceed quickly to a public offering," the report said, citing unnamed sources. "Based on a typical IPO timeline, the shares could start trading this spring."

The home goods e-commerce site, whose executives have been eyeing an IPO in recent years, announced last month that revenue in 2013 grew 55 percent to $915 million.

Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Wayfair was planning to meet with banks in coming weeks, to discuss the possibility of an IPO during the first half of this year.

Meanwhile, a Reuters report last month said the company has raised $150 million in new funding, led by investment management firm T. Rowe Price, which valued the firm at $2 billion.

Investors in the company include Battery Ventures, Spark Capital, Great Hill Partners and HarbourVest Partners. The firm has raised $201 million in funding (apart from the recently reported $150 million fundraise) since its launch in 2002.

The company bootstrapped for a decade after its launch, raising no funding between its founding and 2011, when it raised $165 million (under its previous name CSN Stores).

Wayfair is Boston's best contender for an "anchor" company — with the potential for major growth and staying power over the long term, said Volition Capital partner Larry Cheng (who isn't a Wayfair investor) in a recent interview.

The massive size of the e-commerce sector and the company's substantial number of local employees are among the reasons, Cheng said. Wayfair employs nearly 1,000 in Boston.

Read the whole story at Boston Business Journal »