Airbnb Inc, the home rental company, confidentially filed an initial public offering (IPO) with U.S. regulators this August.
Now the company is thinking about raising $3 billion from the upcoming IPO, announced Friday. The tourism industry was the worst hit sector during the Coronavirus pandemic and Airbnb is expecting a sharp recovery in the future.
For the investors, Airbnb IPO is good news along with some other giants listing in 2020- Warner Music Group and Palantir Technologies.
“We are collectively living through the most harrowing crisis of our lifetime, and as it began to unfold, global travel came to a standstill.”
– CEO Brian Chesky
According to the Reuters, Airbnb IPO is the “most anticipated U.S stock market listing in 2020.”
At present, the company secretly planned to make Airbnb public after the U.S presidential election in November. The IPO is also targeted in December when the time is perfect politically.
However, market conditions might prompt Airbnb to change the planned time and date to avoid the volatile situation.
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Airbnb Seeking $30 Billion Valuation in the IPO
Airbnb is aiming for a $30 billion valuation depending on the market condition, according to the recent reports. In April, Airbnb raised a $2 billion debt and valued the company $18 billion.
Unfortunately, the global travel industry is still going through a pandemic shock and the San-Francisco based home rental company needed emergency funding to save the company.
However, some travelers taking local vacation rentals helped the company to stay alive in for some time. Airbnb had almost 1 million single-day bookings in July after a sharp decline since March, according to the reports.
Online travel agencies like Booking Holdings Inc also saw a 35% recovery which means a bigger future valuation for Airbnb is not impossible. The IPO news was first published by The Wall Street Journal this August.
Other reports from CNBC showed that Airbnb fired 1,900 employees to reduce the cost during the pandemic. Approximately $1 billion from Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners helped the company to get through the global health crisis.
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