Spotify, an music streaming service company is set to trade on New York stock exchange. The Swedish company will go public on April 3, announced , Paul Vogel, head of investor relations of Spotify. According to Reuters calculations, Spotify is expected to be valued at $ 20 billion. The aim of this public offering is not to raise new capital but to “offer liquidity for existing shareholders.”
According to company sources, the Company has ample capital resources, is not looking for new gains in the same direction. Initially company will not issue any new shares, it did not specify any listing price. Instead of traditional method to raise investment, it will simply list existing shares held by company insiders. “The traditional model for taking a company public just isn’t a very good fit for us” Daniel Ek, Spotify’s co-founder and CEO, said in his opening remarks. “There’s no reason to dilute our existing shareholders to raise money we don’t need,” the company said in the video. “We have allowed shareholders and employees to buy and sell stock for years, That shouldn’t stop just because our stock is more widely owned.” Ek said.
Spotify has almost 159 million monthly users, out of it, 71 million are paid subscribers. The amount of users is higher than that of Apple Music. In 2017, Spotify reported sales of $ 5 billion, up from $ 3.6 billion in 2016. Almost 39 % growth noted last year. From 1994 to 2014, music streaming companies saw a major fall down. But these last two years growth is reported.
“We don’t really think of Spotify as just a streaming music anymore. Instead we are building a vibrant ecosystem of macro and micro markets around the world that is creating an opportunity for artists of every level of fame, I think this puts us on a growth trajectory of generational proportions.” Ek said.
