Workplace collaboration platform Slack Technologies Inc. will
go public on Thursday when its shares open for trading on the NYSE under the
ticker symbol WORK.
The company is projected to have a valuation of $16-17 billion upon its listing. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Allen & Co. will act as financial advisors for the deal.
Slack has opted for a direct listing to go public unlike the
traditional initial public offering (IPO) method. A direct offering helps
reduce costs as there are lesser number of banks involved versus an IPO. However,
there is no capital raise in a direct listing, which is a significant advantage
in an IPO.
Slack reported revenues of around $135 million in Q1 2020, reflecting a growth of 67% year-over-year. Net losses widened to about $32 million from nearly $25 million last year. The company had 95,000 paid customers at quarter-end.
Slack has forecasted its revenue growth at 51-53%
year-over-year for the second quarter of 2020 and at 47-50% for fiscal-year 2020.
Like Slack, Spotify too opted for a direct listing when it
went public last year. Spotify had a reference price of $132 and the company is
now trading 11% above its reference price.
Other companies which went public recently include Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) and CrowdStrike (NYSE: CRWD). Chewy’s opening price was $22 and the company is now trading 59% above this number. CrowdStrike opened at $34 and is now trading 126% above that price.