Airbnb Inc. is close to submitting to go public in a move that would underscore a surprising handball for the house-sharing giant and the IPO market.
The company plans to file IPO paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission later this month, laying the groundwork for a potential listing before the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter. Morgan Stanley is tapped to lead the offering, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. which also plays an important role, people said.
There is no guarantee that Airbnb will move forward on the expected timeline, in part due to the notorious volatility of the new release market.
The long-awaited move will bring one of the stalwarts of the sharing economy into the public domain, alongside ride-sharing platforms Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., and sets an extra busy time for major IPOs in the coming months. Airbnb was recently valued at $ 18 billion, down from an earlier valuation of $ 31 billion.
Airbnb based in San Francisco, the largest home-sharing platform in the US, joins a rush of companies tapping public investors after the IPO market emerged from a virtual downturn triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Music label Warner Music Group Corp. and insurance startup Lemonade Inc. set successful debut in June and July, and shares of start-up food delivery DoorDash Inc. and data analytics firm Palantir Technologies Inc. both are expected to start trading later this summer than in the early fall.
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