French music streaming service Deezer announced on Thursday that it wants to raise at least €300 million (£194 million) through a public listing in France before the end of the month. Albrecht said it hasn’t hurt Deezer so far.
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Chief Operating Officer Simon Baldeyrou said the company aimed to raise 300 million euros and would adjust the number of shares sold according to where they were priced within a 36.40 euro to 49.24 euro range.
“The music market is rebounding after a few tough years, and the streaming segment should grow even faster”, CEO Hans-Holger Albrecht said in a conference call. “The introduction in the stock market will enable us to accelerate our growth and continue to play a major role in the vanguard of the musical revolution which streaming offers”, he said in a statement.
Deezer is going to offer its shares for both domestic and global investors via a domestic subscription, which will close end of day October 26, and an worldwide one, which is scheduled to close one day later.
Deezer completed its last round of funding back in 2012, raising €100 million ($US110 million, £70 million) from billionaire Leonard Blavatnik’s Access Industries and Idinvest Partners. Last month Baldeyron told AFP the IPO move would give Deezer access to “a more diversified and more worldwide base”.
It’s main rival, Sweden’s Spotify, claims 75 million users, of which 20 million subscribe to its paid-for product.
It’s a streaming music IPO.
“Since the launch of Apple’s service we haven’t seen any kind of impact on our business”, Albrecht said. But overall music revenue slipped only slightly to $3.2 billion thanks to the rapid rise of streaming, the Recording Industry Association of America has said. Deezer plans to use the IPO money to boost its sales network and increase market share through partnerships.
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Deezer said it expected net proceeds of about 291 million euros.
