Lightspeed POS is expected to begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) this week, The Logic has learned.

A source close to the company said Lightspeed is expected to end its roadshow on Thursday, March 7, set a final price for the offering later that day and begin trading as early as Friday.

The Montreal-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) company filed for its initial public offering (IPO) on February 6. It is hoping to raise approximately $200 million at a price of between $13 and $15 a share, according to documents filed with securities regulators in February.

The Logic analyzed Lightspeed’s 211-page prospectus and spoke to several stock analysts, venture capitalists and industry experts to assess some of the lesser-known details of the tech IPO.

Our analysis showed that despite its fast-growing operation and ambitious expansion plans, a number of factors could hurt the firm’s prospects on the public markets, including a limited patent portfolio, a pending lawsuit, a sole-sourced key feature and a share structure that institutional investors typically oppose.

Lightspeed’s offering is being underwritten by J.P. Morgan Securities, BMO Nesbitt Burns and National Financial, as well as CIBC, TD Bank, Raymond James and Scotiabank. The brokers reportedly began marketing the deal to investors on February 25. The company will list with the stock ticker LSPD.

Catharine Kee, manager of corporate communications at TSX parent company TMX, said the exchange “doesn’t comment on individual companies or issuers.”

Lightspeed has 700 employees in seven countries. It offers point-of-sale services designed for independent retailers and restaurants, and are currently used at 47,000 locations in 100 countries. In comparison, Toronto-based TouchBistro, which focuses on the food-services space, has 15,000 customers. Auckland-headquartered Vend, which primarily caters to boutiques and small stores, has 25,000.

The company has been heavily promoting Lightspeed Payments, an integrated payment-processing solution, which it launched in January to U.S. customers. International expansion is key to the company’s growth, with 35 per cent of revenue coming outside of North America.

When Lightspeed goes public, it will join the slim ranks of Canadian publicly-traded SaaS technology companies like Kinaxis, Shopify and Enghouse.