NEW YORK (Reuters) -Ticket reseller StubHub on Tuesday priced its initial public offering at $23.50, within its marketed range of $22 to $25 per share, raising about $800 million and setting the stage for its long-awaited stock market debut.
The New York-based company, led by co-founder Eric Baker, sold 34.04 million shares in its IPO, giving StubHub an $8.6 billion valuation.
StubHub is leading another busy week for the autumn IPO market, with companies ranging from cybersecurity to e-commerce slated to go public in New York by Friday.
Last week, half a dozen companies led by fintech giant Klarna raised more than $4 billion combined, marking the busiest week for the U.S. IPO market since 2021.
StubHub had paused its IPO plans in April as tariff-driven volatility rattled equities and slammed shut the new listings market.
Founded in 2000, StubHub operates a ticketing marketplace that enables buyers from over 200 countries to purchase tickets for live events, including sports and music performances.
While its primary focus is on secondary ticketing, StubHub also offers tickets directly from artists and venues.
Earlier this month, StubHub announced a multi-year agreement with the Major League Baseball to offer tickets to games.
“Investors will be very keen on its growth plans and the expansion opportunity into original ticket sales is certainly an appealing part of the story,” said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.
“For consumers, switching costs are low, but there are still network effects for having the largest ticket marketplaces, with some very strong brand capital.”
StubHub had been eyeing a New York flotation for years, having confidentially filed in 2021 to go public through a direct listing, according to regulatory filings.
The company later abandoned the direct listing plan and opted for a traditional IPO.
StubHub is set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “STUB” on Wednesday. J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs were lead joint book-running managers for the offering.
(Reporting by Echo Wang in New York, Arasu Kannagi Basil, Ananya Palyekar and Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Writing by David French; Editing by Tom Hogue, Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Alan Barona)
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