Why Airbnb Won't Do an Initial Public Offering in 2020
Skift Take
Airbnb has always put itself out there as not just another startup or your grandmother's online travel agency. Going the direct listing route, as opposed to a far costlier initial public offering, could fit in nicely with that narrative.
An initial public offering? Nah.
Although Airbnb announced last week it intends to go public in 2020, on the heels of generating more than $1 billion in revenue in the second quarter, there is a good chance that the short-term rental — and increasingly boutique hotel — business would avoid readying a road show in preparation for an initial public offering next year.
Airbnb, if it deems market conditions are ripe, will likely go for a direct listing instead. At least one major investor will advocate internally for such an outcome, a source told Skift. In a direct listing, Airbnb would issue no new shares, could avoid massive fees to bank underwriters like Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley, and would receive no new funding, but would start trading as a public company nonetheless.
Those fees can be more than 5 percent of the offering's gross proceeds.
Like Spotify, another unicorn that broke new ground by opti
