Snap Inc. reported Tuesday it had chosen London as its international headquarters, praising the UK's creative industries.

The announcement came after Facebook, Google and Apple last year said they would boost their investments in London, underlining the capital's status as a technology hub as Britain prepared to leave the European Union.

Snap has around 75 staff in the UK, up from just six a year ago, and is looking to add a nearby site to its office in London's Soho district.

Securing talent on the ground

"The UK is where our advertising clients are, where more than 10 million daily Snapchatters are, and where we've already begun to hire talent," said Claire Valoti, general manager of Snap's UK operations.

Snap, which plans to go public this year in the biggest US stock market IPO since 2014, said the UK's strong creative industries made the country "a great place to build a global business."

The firm behind the popular messaging application said it now had more than 150 million daily active users worldwide, including 50 million in Europe.

Snapchat is famous for mobile messages and photos that disappear after being viewed by the recipient.

hg/jd (Reuters, AFP)