Music streaming giant Spotify announced on Wednesday its plan for an initial public offering in a SEC filing that revealed its financial history.
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The Swedish company filed to go public as a direct listing, which will allow Spotify to begin trading more quickly than in a traditional IPO and without the aid of banks to serve as underwriters and set an initial share price. Spotify said company shares have sold in private transactions for as much as $132.50 per share, which would indicate a valuation of nearly $23 billion.
While no formal date has been set, Spotify said in its filing that trading will begin “as soon as practicable after this registration statement is declared effective.” Trading could begin as soon as late March, according to the Wall Street Journal. Spotify will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SPOT.
Spotify had 71 million paid subscribers as of Dec. 31 and 159 million monthly active users. The company said it brought in about $5 billion in revenue in 2017, up 39% year over year, and a net loss of about $1.5 billion. It has yet to turn a profit.
Spotify’s filing to go public comes days after web-storage service DropBox filed for its IPO. That company is seeking a valuation of $7 billion to $8 billion.
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