Airbnb books place on stock exchange
SHORT-TERM accommodation marketplace Airbnb has announced plans to float next year.
It marks a long-awaited move for the group that is both loved and reviled for its disruption of the hotel business.
Airbnb disclosed the move overnight Thursday in a brief statement.
It did not give a target date for its initial public offering or say why it thought the timing was right. The company was valued at $US31 billion ($45 billion) last year, according to Renaissance Capital, which researches IPOS.
San Francisco-based Airbnb was launched in 2008. Co-founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia needed some extra cash, so they put three air mattresses on their apartment floor and set up a website promising a place to sleep and a free breakfast.
They named their new venture Airbed and Breakfast. Since then, Airbnb has grown into one of the world’s largest accommodation ces, rivalled only ing.com.
Six guests check into an Airbnb every second, the company says.
Airbnb has more than 7 million listings in 100,000 cities worldwide. Almost 1000 cities have more than 1000 Airbnb listings. In 2011, only 12 cities did.
The company said it was profitable on a pre-tax basis the past two years, but it did not release specific numbers. marketplaby Book
It said it made “substantially more than” $US1 billion in revenue in the second quarter of this year – the second time in its history that its quarterly revenue topped that mark.
Airbnb did not say whether it made a profit during the quarter.
Investors may be cautious after some recent IPO flops.
Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft debuted on the market earlier this year, but they continue to lose money and shares in both are trading well below their IPO prices.
Wework, which is also racking up big losses as it opens shared office spaces, delayed its IPO earlier this week.
Kathleen Smith, a principal with Renaissance Capital, said the difference for Airbnb could be its profitability.
Companies that are struggling in the markets have had trouble showing investors a path to profitability, she said, but the overall IPO market was performing well.