Spotify to go public with a direct exchange listing

Music streaming service Spotify has officially filed its paperwork to go public through a direct listing.

It plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under ticker SPOT.

The company had reportedly filed for a confidential public listing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month.

Spotify will likely become the first major company to carry out a direct listing, that essentially eliminates the need for a Wall Street bank or broker to underwrite an IPO along with any associated fees and could change the way how tech companies go public.

A direct listing also means there will be no initial public offering price. Spotify has provided some guidance based on private share sales that has been between $90.00-$132.50 per share this year and between $37.50-$125 per share for the year ended December 2017.

At that top end of the price range, the company would be valued at as much as $23bn.

Spotify has offered a streaming service since 2008 and has 159 million monthly active users including 71 million paid subscribers globally.

In its filing with the SEC, Spotify said it has made annual losses every year and lost more than €1.2bn in losses in 2017.

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