Airbnb Plans $3B IPO In December: Reuters

Airbnb Inc, the online platform for vacation rental bookings, is planning to undergo an initial public offering in December, according to Reuters.

What Happened: Airbnb submitted the IPO documents confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in August and plans to make the details public after the presidential elections in November. Airbnb’s IPO is expected to generate $3 billion in proceeds boosting the company’s valuation close to $30 billion, as per Reuters.

A recently performed independent appraisal of the company’s stock estimated its fair market value of approximately $21 billion.

In September, Bloomberg reported that Airbnb sidestepped a prospective merger with billionaire William Ackman’s blank-check company Perishing Square Tontine (NYSE: PSTH-U).

At the time, the special-purpose acquisition company held a capital reserve of $5 billion, which included $1 billion of committed capital by Perishing Square Capital Management.

In April, Airbnb's valuation was close to $18 billion when it raised approximately $2 billion in debt funds.

Why Does It Matter: Despite headwinds from the COVID-19 outbreak, the travel and tourism industry is on the verge of recovery, according to CNBC.

In July, Airbnb received over 1 million bookings in a single day — a milestone last achieved in the first week of March — Reuters noted.

Booking Holdings Inc BKNG, an online travel booking and related services company, is one of Airbnb’s closest market peers. Although BKNG stock has dropped 18% on a year to date basis, it is up by 26% since the first week of April.