Airbnb is planning to file for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) this August, and could begin trading by the end of 2020, thus paving the way for the company to potentially make its public markets debut this year amid the economic fallout from the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Morgan Stanley will lead the offering, with the involvement of Goldman Sachs.
Although the company’s initial plans were to go public earlier this year, the coronavirus pandemic forced them to shelve the plans. It also laid off 25% of its staff, or roughly 1,900 employees, to cut costs. At the time, CEO Brian Chesky stated that its 2020 revenue would be less than half of what the company earned in 2019 ($4.8 billion).
The company was recently valued at $18 billion, down from $31 billion in 2017. In April, the company raised $1 billion in equity and debt from Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners to get through the crisis. It raised another $1 billion just a week later from Fidelity, T. Rowe Price and BlackRock.
U.S.-listed IPOs have so far raised more than $60 billion in 2020, according to Dealogic, with an average gain of 23% on their first day of trading.
Airbnb is an online marketplace for arranging or offering lodging or tourism experiences. Although the company does not own any of the real estate listings, it acts as a broker, receiving commissions from each booking. The company is based in San Francisco, California, United States.
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