US stocks welcome another “super IPO”! Ticketing platform StubHub (STUB.US) hits the market capitalization and is expected to reach 9.2 billion US dollars

The Zhitong Finance App learned that the US ticketing platform StubHub Holdings Inc plans to raise up to US$851 million through an initial public offering (IPO). According to the company's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, the New York-based company plans to issue around 34 million shares, with a price range of $22 to $25 per share. Based on the upper limit of the range, according to the tradable share capital listed in the document, StubHub's market value will be about 9.2 billion US dollars. It can be called another super IPO after AI cloud computing power leader CoreWeave, the “first stablecoin stock” Circle, and the new cryptocurrency force Bullish.

According to the latest documents, StubHub recorded a net loss of 76 million US dollars in the six months ending June 30, with overall revenue of about US$827.9 million; while the net loss for the same period in 2024 was about US$24 million, with revenue of about US$803.5 million.

The ticketing company that operates StubHub and Viagogo platforms was one of the major companies that suspended plans to advance US stock IPOs after the Trump administration announced broad global tariffs in early April and caused severe turmoil in global stock markets.

The global IPO market has clearly rebounded. In particular, the US stock IPO market is expected to continue its hot momentum in the near future, and is likely to usher in the busiest week of the US stock market listing this year. According to data compiled by the agency, excluding closed-end funds and other financial instruments, the US initial public offering (IPO) has raised 24.4 billion US dollars this year, which is significantly higher than the 20.4 billion US dollars in the same period last year.

According to the latest documents, StubHub's total product transaction amount (gross sales, refers to the total amount paid by ticket buyers, including fees and payments made to sellers) rose to 4.4 billion US dollars in the six months ending June 30, up from 3.9 billion US dollars in the same period last year.

According to the documents, the company handled ticket sales for concerts and other events held in more than 90 countries for more than 1 million independent sellers last year.

Since at least 2022, the company has sought to publicly list the US stock market through direct listing, when its valuation could exceed $13 billion. People familiar with the matter said that the company tried to go public last year, when driven by Taylor Swift's “The Eras Tour”. Sales can be described as surging in the short term, but the listing plan was postponed soon after the documents were submitted due to unfavorable market conditions.

According to the documents, the company's total merchandise transactions increased 27% year over year in 2024; if the impact of Taylor Swift's tour was not taken into account, the increase was 29%.

CEO Eric Baker is one of the co-founders of StubHub, and he left the company before selling the company to eBay Inc. for $310 million in 2007. Baker then founded Viagogo in Europe. In 2019, Viagogo agreed to buy StubHub for $4.05 billion. The deal was completed the following year, and the merged company continued to operate under two major brands.

According to the documents, Baker held nearly 5% of Class A shares; prior to this sale, with Class B shares with 100 voting rights per share, his voting share in the company was slightly less than 90%.

Madrone Partners LP held 24.5% of the business and 2.7% of voting rights prior to the IPO; WestCap Management held 12.3% of the shares; and Bessemer Venture Partners held 8.8%. Madrone and Bessemer hold seats on the company's board of directors.

The launch was led by J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, and more than 10 banks participated. The company plans to list and trade its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, and the stock code is “STUB.”

The core business of StubHub, a global ticketing secondary marketplace platform, is to match buyers and sellers to trade live entertainment tickets for sports events, concerts, dramas, etc., and collect fees/commissions based on the transaction. Its business was formed by merging StubHub and viagogo. The group is headquartered in New York and profits by connecting buyers and sellers, guaranteeing contract fulfillment, and collecting platform fees.