Airbnb Inc. has filed to go public in a long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).
The San Francisco-based company said in a written statement that it submitted its filing for an IPO confidentially to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The size and price range for the public offering haven’t been set yet.
The comeback for travel following the global COVID-19 pandemic was faster than expected and helped keep Airbnb’s plans for a public debut on track. The company earlier planned to file with the SEC on March 31 but was forced to wait due to pandemic-related market turmoil.
Airbnb was valued at $31 billion U.S. at its peak in a 2017 private fund-raising round, though $2 billion U.S. in debt issuance to shore up its finances earlier this year has significantly reduced that valuation. In a round of debt and equity securities in April, the warrants valued the company at $18 billion U.S.
Airbnb said it is considering a direct listing in which it wouldn’t raise money by selling new shares as it would in a traditional IPO. Instead, the company’s investors could put their shares on the market without waiting for a lock-up period.
