Airbnb IPO raises $4.7b with higher share pricing
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Airbnb and its investors sold about 52 million shares on Wednesday for US$68 each after marketing them at US$56 to US$60, it said in a statement.
PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW YORK • Airbnb priced its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) above a marketed range to raise about US$3.5 billion (S$4.7 billion), seizing on investor demand for a home-rental business roaring back from a pandemic-fuelled slump.
The IPO came just hours after DoorDash almost doubled from its listing price in its debut trading session, adding to a flurry of consumer-facing Web-based companies going public this month.
Airbnb and its investors sold about 52 million shares on Wednesday for US$68 each after marketing them at US$56 to US$60, it said in a statement confirming an earlier Bloomberg report. At that price, Airbnb would have a fully diluted value of about US$47 billion, which includes employee stock options and restricted stock units.
Airbnb's listing adds to what was already a record year for IPOs, with more than US$163 billion raised on US exchanges, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That includes DoorDash's US$3.37 billion offering.
Other companies lined up for IPOs this month include video-game company Roblox, instalment loans provider Affirm Holdings and ContextLogic, the parent of online discount retailer Wish.
For Airbnb to hang on to any lofty valuation, it will need to grapple with a litany of threats, as outlined in its IPO prospectus, ranging from a surge in party houses that carry liability risks to an increase in professionally run properties that lack the charm that made Airbnb rentals famous.
BLOOMBERG
