This may not go down well with the music industry: the parent company of secondary ticketing services StubHub and Viagogo, StubHub Holdings, is reportedly exploring going public via a Spotify-style direct listing.
Bloomberg claimed that StubHub has already filed some of the necessary paperwork confidentially with US financial regulator the SEC, and could launch a listing later this year valuing the company at more than $13bn.
It would be a significant move, after Viagogo acquired StubHub for $4bn in 2020, and was then forced to sell the latter’s business outside North America in 2021 by UK competition regulator the CMA.
Both Viagogo and StubHub have faced strong criticism from the music industry in recent years over the way concert tickets are sold on their platforms, so we’d expect some rumbles if and when the direct listing goes ahead.
That said, going public would offer significantly more transparency into the business via quarterly financial results, which might be useful for anti-secondary campaigners.
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