Airbnb considers public listing
NEW YORK - Short-term home rental company Airbnb Inc is set to hire Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc as joint lead advisers on its planned stock market flotation next year, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The appointments would represent another highprofile assignment for the storied investment banks, albeit potentially less lucrative than usual. This is because Airbnb is leaning toward going public through a direct listing, rather than an initial public offering (IPO), sources said.
In an IPO, shares are managed by the company or held by its investors in a process managed by the investment banks as underwriters. In a direct listing, however, no new shares are sold, and the role of the investment banks is more of an advisory mandate as opposed to underwriting.
As a result, companies can save on the investment banking fees they paid through a direct listing.
Airbnb is considering going public around the middle of 2020, one of the sources said, a timeline that would help it avoid any stock market volatility in the run-up to the US presidential election in November of next year.