Online platform Reddit plans to list on stock market

SOCIAL media platform Reddit – which was used to drive the so-called “meme” stock craze during the pandemic – has reportedly drawn up detailed plans to list on the stock market in March.

The listing, which bosses have been plotting for more than three years, would be the first initial public offering of a major social media company since Pinterest’s debut in 2019.

The move comes as Reddit and its peers face stiff competition for advertising income from the likes of Tiktok and Facebook. The offering, expected to be on the New York Stock Exchange, would also test the willingness of some Reddit users to back the company’s stock market debut.

Many investors posting on the platform helped fuel dozens of “meme” stock rallies in the last three years, from retailer Gamestop to movie operator AMC Entertainment Holdings.

Stockbrokers eventually began blocking and restricting trading in some companies as DIY investors communicating on Reddit drove a surge in their value, often by hundreds of percentage points in a single day.

Reddit, which filed confidentially for its initial public offering in December 2021, is planning to make its public filing in late February, according to reports. It would launch its roadshow in early March, and complete the initial public offering by the end of March, Reuters reported. The San Francisco-based company, which was valued at about $10bn (£7.9bn) in a funding round in 2021, is seeking to sell about 10pc of its shares in the initial public offering, it was reported. A Reddit spokesman declined to comment.

Founded in 2005, the company, which generates its revenue primarily through advertising and charges for premium access, has yet to turn a profit, co-founder Steve Huffman said in June.

$10bn The value of Reddit when it announced a funding round in 2021. Since then plans have been made to go public