5 year old workplace collaboration software company Slack, is going public by means of direct Listing as opposed to the popular route taken by other companies, the Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Its shares were projected to go for $26 at the New York Stock Exchange, targeting a valuation of roughly $15.7 Billion; however, the first trade was priced at $38.50, giving the company a $23 billion valuation, which is approximately $7 Billion above target.
Slack is a workplace-oriented app designed to ease communication through chat channels.
Slack’s collaboration tool is used actively by 600,000 companies and organizations, and has become an indispensable alternative to older means of communications like email.
In the direct listing process, the company itself has not raised any money since going public, but has simply allowed its stock to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
While an IPO is an important fund-raising tool for companies from the sale of shares, in a direct offering, existing shareholders can exit by selling their shares directly into the stock market.
Related article: Uber is aiming for an $84 Billion valuation, this year’s largest IPO
Slack is the latest high-profile tech IPO this year, coming soon after fellow unicorns Uber, Lyft and Pinterest. Of the three, only Pinterest is living up to investors’ expectations, unlike Lyft and Uber whose loss-making has continued to worry investors.
Slack’s performance will likely be under the same level of scrutiny moving forward.
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