Airbnb is planning to submit a confidential filing with the SEC this month to go public, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNBC.
Shares could begin trading by the end of the year. Airbnb declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news of its market debut.
The company was expected to go public earlier this year, but put those plans on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic and laid off 25% of its staff, or roughly 1,900 employees, to cut costs. At the time, CEO Brian Chesky told employees that its 2020 revenue will be less than half of what the company earned in 2019.
The pandemic has been a huge hurdle for the short-term rental company to overcome, as it’s devastated the travel and hospitality industries.
Airbnb’s private valuation has dropped to $18 billion, down from the $31 billion figure when it raised a round of funding in 2017. The company also raised $1 billion in April in equity and debt from Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners to get through the crisis. It raised another $1 billion just a week later from Fidelity, T. Rowe Price and Blackrock.
