Companies to watch in IPO-land this year

tap the private markets again. Another key reason for Uber is that, when it raised money from SoftBank last year, the company agreed to free up some shareholders to sell on the private markets if it didn’t go public in 2019. That’s a situation the start-up probably wants to avoid. And finally, the jockeying between Uber and Lyft only ups the competitive pressure for each to list before the other sucks up all the oxygen and investor money.

Slack

Lyft. While its financials aren’t public, the messaging app is likely a leaner business than Uber, which has consistently lost about $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) a quarter.

On the other hand, Slack has always been a precocious company. With a $7.1 billion private valuation, it’s almost worth as much as public messaging app Snap Inc Last year, Slack filled out its board with independent directors and hired a chief financial officer. Never say never.

Airbnb

turn back to the private markets for additional cash? It’s worth noting that Airbnb is the rare high-flying unicorn that hasn’t taken a big cheque from SoftBank.

If I had to guess, I’d say that Airbnb wants a once-in-ageneration public offering. If it doesn’t want to go public in Uber’s shadow, it would likely need to wait until 2020, once Uber has had its turn. On the other hand, Airbnb is facing more and more competition from publicly traded Booking Holdings Inc. Airbnb may want a public stock to make it easier to acquire companies and piece together a more complete travel offering.

Palantir and Pinterest

Morgan Stanley is advising Palantir, though that’s not the same as getting hired for a public offering. Palantir’s public offering documents would be among the most exciting to read because Peter Thiel’s 15-year-old start-up has long been such a financial mystery.

Pinterest, on the other hand, is struggling to carve out a niche as social media stocks crumble.

Pinterest sees itself as something much different from Snapchat or Instagram. People don’t always use its service daily, but when they do, they’re often thinking about buying things.

The start-up was on track to hit $700 million in revenue last year, the New York Times reported. Still, social media stocks with better user engagement have tanked, leaving Pinterest vulnerable.

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