Reddit to begin trading on Thurs after top-end IPO pricing

Astera Labs,

21/03/2024 10:13

** Social media platform Reddit Inc  RDDT.N  poised for
public listing after long-awaited IPO prices at top end of
expectations
    ** Reddit late Weds announced IPO of 22 mln shares priced at
$34, vs $31-$34 range, for $748 mln raise
    ** Reddit's shares to start trading on NYSE with ticker
"RDDT"
    ** Co offered ~15.3 mln shares and investors sold ~6.7 mln
shares
    ** At IPO price, Reddit valued at $6.4 bln, well below $10
bln valuation in a fundraising round in 2021
    ** Reddit reserved roughly 8% of the IPO for eligible users
and moderators, certain board members and friends and family
members of employees in "directed share program" (DSP)
    ** DSP purchasers are not subject to a lock-up agreement,
meaning they can choose to sell shares immediately, which could
stoke volatility
    ** Reddit's message boards best known for the "meme-stock"
frenzy of 2021, when retail traders teamed up to ignite
eye-watering surges in shares of highly-shorted names such as
GameStop  GME.N  and AMC Entertainment  AMC.N 
    ** Reddit has never been profitable since its 2005 launch.
Co 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 on the IPO
    ** Reddit's listing follows stellar debut of chip firm
Astera Labs  ALAB.O , which scored a 72% gain in its debut on
Weds, tapping into investor exuberance for artificial
intelligence plays
    ** ALAB shares up another 6% at $65.89 before the bell

 (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))