Warner Music Set To Go Public Today, In Anticipated Largest US IPO Of The Year

Warner Music is set to list at the Nasdaq Stock Market on Wednesday.

Warner Music Could Kickstart A String Of IPOs This Year

The record label giant is expected to price the initial public offering between $23 to $26 per share, and raise between $11.7 billion and $13.3 billion.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Warner Music is aiming towards the higher end of that range for pricing its IPO, which will be the largest year-till-date in the United States.

The IPO sector has been battered by the economic impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and a number of high-profile listings, including that of Airbnb Inc., are reported to be delayed to next year at least.

Warner Music's IPO is to be followed by that of business database startup ZoomInfo on Thursday. The software-as-a-service provider is expected to raise $850 million, which will make it the biggest technology IPO of the year, the Journal reports.

If the record label finds success in going public, it could give the confidence for other companies to follow suit, which are otherwise in the wait-and-watch mood due to the pandemic, the Journal noted.

Pricing Of IPO Delayed In Solidarity With Protests

The New York-based company was expected to price the IPO late Tuesday but delayed the move in light of the ongoing protests following George Floyd's death, according to the Journal.

The music industry called for a "Blackout Tuesday," and companies, including Spotify Technology S.A. SPOT, and music divisions of Apple Inc.'s AAPL, Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG, and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, participated by temporarily suspending operations, The Verge reported.

Warner Music is now expected to decide on the IPO pricing in a meeting early Wednesday ahead of the listing, the Journal noted.