In an unusual move for a US tech company, Snapchat is making the UK its international headquarters

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has chosen to base its international headquarters in the UK, The Financial Times first reported on Tuesday.

The move is unusual for a US-based tech firm. Companies including Facebook, Uber, and Google have chosen other European countries including Ireland and the Netherlands as their international bases, to take advantage of lower corporation tax rates.

Snap confirmed it will not be routing sales made in the UK through other European countries for tax reasons. Sales in countries where Snap does not have a local office or salesforce will also be booked in the UK.

Claire Valoti, general manager of Snap Group Limited in the UK, said in a statement: "We believe in the UK creative industries. 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."

Snap first opened its UK office in 2015 and it now has 75 staff, many of which have been hired from rival tech firms. Valoti was hired from Facebook at the end of 2015 and other recent hires include Ricky Leatham from Amazon, who leads the UK engineering team and Andy Pang, who joined from Instagram to lead its measurement division in the region.

Snap Group Limited currently resides in a three-floor office in Soho, London, but the company says it is set to open an additional site nearby.

Snap confidentially filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission last year to go public in 2017. The company is seeking a valuation of between $20 billion and $25 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Business Insider in November.