The home rentals site Airbnb is set to list next year in one of the highest-profile share sales of 2020.
In a brief statement on its website Airbnb announced its intentions to become a publicly-traded company although it didn’t reveal any details of how it plans to list shares.
However according to media reports it’s likely to launch a direct-listing in which no new shares are issued as part of the offering, avoiding hefty underwriting fees.
Airbnb was founded in San Francisco in 2008 and has enabled millions of people to rent out use of their property to anyone happy to pay for them.
The peer-to-peer commerce works through an app or a website and often undercuts traditional suppliers of goods and services such as hotels.
Airbnb’s listing is sure to attract a lot of scrutiny after two other tech giants – Lyft and Uber – both floated this year but their shares fared relatively poorly as investors questioned their prospects for making profits.
WeWork’s owner WeCompany has also postponed its planned $20bn IPO amidst weak investor interest. WeWork offers shared working spaces with communal office services.