Reddit launches up to $748 mln IPO for planned pricing next week

Astera Labs,

11/03/2024 10:21

** Social media platform Reddit Inc  RDDT.N  kicks off its
marketing roadshow on Mon for its long-awaited IPO
    ** IPO of ~22 mln shares filed in range of $31-$34 could
raise $748 mln if priced at top end
    ** Deal expected to price early the week of Mar 18 and to
debut on NYSE with ticker "RDDT"
    ** Reddit offering ~15.3 mln shares and its investors
selling ~6.7 mln shares
    ** Targeted valuation of as much $6.4 bln compares to
valuation of ~$10 bln in a fundraising round in 2021
    ** Reddit reserving ~1.76 mln shares for eligible users and
moderators, as well as certain board members, in "directed share
program" (DSP). Purchasers through the DSP will not be under a
lock-up agreement, meaning they could choose to sell shares on
the first day of trading
    ** Co's message boards best known for the "meme-stock"
frenzy of 2021, when retail traders teamed up to ignite
skyrocketing surges in shares of highly-shorted names such as
GameStop  GME.N  and AMC Entertainment  AMC.N 
    ** Reddit, which has never been profitable, reported
narrower net loss of ~$91 mln in 2023, compared to ~$159 mln a
yr earlier
    ** Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and BofA leading
16-firm underwriting group for the IPO, per Reddit's filing
    ** The IPO comes more than two years after Reddit began
preparing to go public, and will be closely watched as the
recovery in the new listing market has been sporadic over the
past year
    ** On Friday, Astera Labs, chipmaker focused on artificial
intelligence, said it would seek as much as $534 mln in its IPO
as co looks to list on Nasdaq with ticker "ALAB"

 (Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
 ((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))