The stage is apparently set for one of the most high profile debuts in a stock market for 2020 as the home rental startup Airbnb Inc plans to get itself listed on the Nasdaq and offer an initial public offering.

There were multiple reports earlier this month which claimed that the company had set a target to raise as much as $3 billion from its IPO launch which would help the company to achieve a total market valuation of more than $30 billion, the reports had claimed that the company was targeting for a stock market listing before the end of the current year.

A dramatic recovery for Airbnb from its position earlier this year, when the company was forced to secure emergency funding from its investors amid thee very bleak outlook for the global travel and tourism industry because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, was underscored in the company’s push to go public and the growth in its potential valuation.

The trend among travellers to shy away from larger hotels and instead prefer to drive to local vacation rentals has over the years benefitted the San Francisco-based Airbnb. Back in July the company had said that for the first time since March 3, its customers had booked more than 1 million nights in a single day.

No timeline about when it could potentially complete its IPO was provided by Airbnb. In August, an application for confidentially for an IPO with regulators in the United States as filed by the company.

There were reports earlier this year about billionaire investor William Ackman having made an approach to Airbnb about taking the company public through a reverse merger with his blank-check company. However the reports also claimed that Airbnb had prioritized going public through the traditional rout of launching an IPO.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are acting as the lead underwriters for the IPO, claimed reports last month, citing people familiar with the matter.

(Adapted from Business-Standard.com)

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