OYO-backer Airbnb to make its $30-billion IPO filing public next week; plans to list in December

Online vacation rental marketplace Airbnb, which had backed Ritesh Agarwal’s online hotel booking company OYO last year, is looking to IPO in December this year, according to a Reuters report. The company is planning to make its IPO filing public next week, setting it up for a December debut on the New York stock market even as the Covid cases continue to rise, the report added citing two people in the know of the development. Airbnb’s planned listing on the Nasdaq will be among the largest listings of 2020 amid Covid wherein the house rentals demand witnessed an increase as customers snubbed hotels to ensure social distancing.

The IPO registration will offer the first detailed look at its business and how it reinvented the business after the pandemic forced it to turn its focus towards holiday homes from city apartments. Setting the IPO price range and an investor roadshow are planned by the company for December even as the sources cautioned the timing to be subject to market conditions. Airbnb had in April this year secured a $1 billion loan, days after closing a deal for $1 billion debt, from private equity investors including Owl Rock, Sixth Street Partners, Silver Lake, Oaktree Capital Management, and Apollo Global Management.

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Airbnb had reportedly confidentially filed for IPO in August this year. It is eyeing to raise around $3 billion and may hit over $30 billion in valuation in the IPO, CNBC reported. This is significantly higher than its $18 billion valuation back in April when it secured $2 billion debt. Over 1 million nights were booked by customers in a single day on its platform for the first time since March 3, Airbnb had said in July. Shares had bounced back over 35 per cent in the past six months for online travel firm Booking Holdings that is used as a conservative public market proxy by some Airbnb investors for its own stock. Airbnb had invested around $75 million in OYO in April 2019.