Robinhood seeks up to $35b valuation in mega US IPO

NEW YORK: Robinhood Markets Inc is targeting a valuation of up to $35 billion in its initial public offering in the United States, the company revealed in a filing on Monday, seting the stage for one of the highly anticipated stock market listings of the year.

The listing plans come just months ater the online brokerage found itself at the centre of a confrontation between a new generation of retail investors and Wall Street hedge funds in late January.

Robinhood was aiming for an IPO valuation of up to $40 billion, Reuters had previously reported.

About 55 million shares are being offered in the IPO to raise over $2.3 billion. Nearly 2.63 million of those shares are being offered by the company’s founders and chief financial officer, the filing showed. Proceeds from those will not go to Robinhood.

Shares are expected to be priced between $38 and $42, the company said.

Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of sotware provider Saleforce.com Inc, is looking to purchase up to $150 million worth of Class A common stock at the IPO price, the filing showed.

Robinhood was founded in 2013 by Stanford University roommates Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhat. They will hold a majority of the voting power ater the offering, the filing showed, with Bhat having around 39 per cent of the voting power of outstanding stock while Tenev will hold about 26.2 per cent.

The company’s plaform allows users to make unlimited commission-free trades in stocks, exchange-traded funds, options and cryptocurrencies. Its easy-to-use interface made it a go-to for young investors trading from home during coronavirus-induced restrictions and its popularity has soared over the past 18 months.