Deals
Slack Is Planning for Direct Share Listing Instead of an IPO
- Messaging platform could be valued at $7 billion in share sale
- Company doesn’t need publicity, cash proceeds of typical IPO
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Slack Technologies Inc. plans to forgo a traditional initial public offering and instead intends to sell its shares to bidders in a direct listing, a person familiar with the matter said.
The messaging platform company is choosing the unusual method for going public because it doesn’t need the cash or publicity of an IPO, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information wasn’t public. Slack hasn’t filed with U.S. regulators for the listing yet and it’s unclear when it will because of the continuing shutdown of the federal government, the person said.