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The Roblox video game platform plans to go public via a direct list.
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Roblox, which had delayed its initial public offering, has set a date for the direct listing of its shares.
The video game company will now go public “on March 10 approximately,” according to a modified brochure filed Monday. Roblox wants to sell 198,917,280 shares, but has not specified a price. In January, the company sold about 12 million shares of convertible preferred shares in a private location at $ 45 per share. Renaissance Capital said a quote at that price would value the company at more than $ 29 billion. Roblox stated in the brochure that the opening price of the approximately 199 million shares would be “determined by the buy and sell orders collected by the NYSE from brokerage brokers.”
Roblox will be the fifth company to be listed on a direct listing. Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Asana (ASAN), Slack Technologies (WORK) and Spotify Technology (SPOT) used a direct list when they debuted in the public equity markets.
Roblox will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the RBLX marker. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America act as financial advisers in the deal.
Founded in 2004, Roblox hosts child-friendly games focused on digital characters similar to Lego blocks. An average of 37.1 million people come to Roblox daily to play games.
The company is not profitable. Losses extended to $ 253.3 million for the year ended December 31, compared to a loss of $ 71 million in the same period in 2019. Revenues increased by approximately 82%, to to $ 923.9 million, during the December 31 period. It has 960 full-time employees. David Baszucki, co-founder, president and CEO of Roblox, has a 70.1% total vote, according to the pamphlet.
Roblox’s path to a direct list was not easy. In November, the company initially submitted its publication using a traditional initial public offering. Then, in December, he delayed the offer after the strong debuts of
Airbnb
(ABNB) i
Per Dash
(DASH) made it too difficult to determine the right price for the shares.
Roblox in January changed its mind about a traditional IPO, and chose to go public through a direct listing.
The change to Roblox came after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved a change to the New York Stock Exchange rule that allowed direct listing of flats in December. Companies that use direct land quotes can now sell new shares and raise new capital in a single large transaction directly on the stock exchange without subscribers.
Direct listings aim to balance the playing field of investors. The price is set for orders received by the plant. For example, a designated market maker will determine the public opening price of Roblox based on the buy and sell orders that NYSE charges from brokerage brokers. The market maker will decide the opening price of Roblox in consultation with its financial advisors, Goldman, Morgan and BofA.
This is different from traditional IPOs, where subscribers set the bid price. Sometimes this causes big savings during the first day of trading.
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