WORDBND.COM - WordNews. Home rental company Airbnb aims to raise around US $ 3 billion in its upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO).
This is based on the words of several people who are aware of this matter, as quoted by CNBC international published on Friday (02/10/2020).
The move represents Airbnb's action to take advantage of an unexpected sharp recovery in its business after the Covid-19 pandemic rocked the travel industry.
Airbnb will be one of the biggest and most anticipated stock market companies in 2020 which has been a blockbuster year for IPOs, featuring the likes of record label Warner Music Group, data analytics firm Palantir and data warehouse company Snowflake.
Airbnb said in August that it had filed an IPO in secret with US regulators.
The company's current plan is to make its filings publicly available in November, following the US Presidential Election and is targeting an IPO to take place sometime in December, said the source, who requested anonymity because the plan is only internal.
Sources warn that the implementation of the IPO is subject to change and market conditions, especially the volatility that can come from the election.
An Airbnb spokeswoman declined to comment.
The company is expected to reach a valuation value of more than US $ 30 billion in an IPO, the source added. But once again he warned that it depends on market conditions.
This would be significantly higher than Airbnb's US $ 18 billion value last April when it raised US $ 2 billion in debt from investors. Based on an independent party's most recent assessment of the fair market value of the shares, the stock has been valued at around US $ 21 billion.
The drive to go public and the potential growth of its valuation underline Airbnb's dramatic recovery from earlier this year when it secured emergency funding from investors and the travel industry's prospects were uncertain.
Since then, San Francisco-based Airbnb has benefited as travelers shy away from big hotels and prefer to drive to local vacation rentals.
The company said in July that customers had booked more than 1 million nights a day for the first time since March 3.
US online travel agency Booking Holdings, which some Airbnb investors use as a conservative public market proxy for its own shares, has recovered more than 35% in the past six months.
Reuters reported last month that billionaire investor William Ackman had approached Airbnb about going public through a reverse merger with his blank check company, but that Airbnb is prioritizing going public through a traditional IPO.
Source: cnbc