Published
Thu, Mar 15, 2018, 18:21
- The streaming giant's 'Investor Day' revealed details on the company's April 3rd direct listing.
Shares of Spotify will be publicly available on April 3rd.
As previously reported, the Swedish company will make the unusual move of directly listing the company on the New York Stock Exchange, rather than first raising money from investment banks in the traditional IPO model. Today at the company's Investor Day in New York City, CEO Daniel Ek spoke before a live and streaming audience on the decision. "I think the traditional model of taking a company public isn't a good fit for us," he said. A video posted on the company's investor site, meanwhile, said the direct listing would give "equal access to all buyers and sellers" and encourage "radical transparency" as the company goes public.
Spotify's 2017 revenue was $5.05 billion, up 39% from the previous year. However, the company has still not yielded an annual profit. It lost over $1.5 billion last year, more than the two years prior. Spotify's current valuation rests at around $19 billion, thought the direct listing method will likely make for volatile trading as company shares hit the market.