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Airbnb may work toward a direct listing instead of an IPO

Doing a direct listing is a path recently taken by Slack and Spotify

The home-sharing and accommodation startup launched its Frontline Stays program in Colombia. Photo: Shutterstock
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  • The company is laying the groundwork for a direct listing rather than an initial public offering (IPO);
  • In a direct listing, the market choose the price of the company’s shares.

According to Bloomberg, Airbnb’s long-awaited Wall Street debut is going to happen in 2020, but the home-share startup is charting an unconventional path to the public markets.

The company is laying the groundwork for a direct listing rather than an initial public offering (IPO), said people familiar with the matter to Bloomberg.

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Doing a direct listing is a path recently taken by Slack and Spotify. According to Bloomberg, a direct listing allows companies to lower the millions of dollars they typically pay to investment banks in underwriting fees, because they don’t issue any new shares and don’t raise any new capital. Instead, they let the market choose the price.

Airbnb declined to officially comment the issue.

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