New reports suggest that PropTech giant Airbnb might file for an initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August.
The Wall Street Journal report that broke the news said that Airbnb could complete an IPO before the end of 2020, adding that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are helping the unicorn with the process. The newspaper cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
The Wall Street Journal noted that the uncertain timing of the SEC’s review process and the changing approval of investors mean that the expected timeline of Airbnb’s IPO is far from certain.
In fact, it’s not even certain that Airbnb will go public through an IPO. Instead, it it could launch a direct listing or merge with a blank-check company, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In 2019, Airbnb promised that it would go public in 2020, but its plans has since been scuppered by the outbreak of the coronavirus. The pandemic put the breaks on travelling around the world and hence resulted in some massive damages to the company’s bottomline.
In April, the tech venture raised $1bn to help it weather the storm. Silver Lake Partners and Sixth Street Partners invested the money in a combination of debt and equity securities.
Since then, the company has spoken optimistically about the usage of its platform and its financials, citing an increase of bookings on the platform between May and June compared to the same period last year, according to TechCrunch.
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