StubHub considering IPO, targets $16.5bn valuation

Ticket resale platform StubHub is reportedly planning to go public this summer if it can achieve a valuation of around US$16.5 billion (€15.5bn).

The Information, which broke the news, cites sources close to StubHub, but says the company may call off the offering if it is unable to approach its $16.5bn target – in line with what it was valued at during its 2021 round of private funding.

The American firm, which is understood to have been working with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs on the IPO over the past two years, is said to have debts of more than $2bn. It was previously rumoured to be going public via a direct listing in 2022.

StubHub, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have all declined to comment on the timing of the offering.

CNBC notes that ticket platform SeatGeek has also reportedly been sizing up a potential IPO this year, while publicly traded competitors Vivid Seats and Live Nation are valued at $1.2bn and close to $24bn, respectively, according to FactSet.

Viagogo announced its $4bn acquisition of StubHub in 2019

Viagogo announced its acquisition of StubHub for US$4.05bn in 2019 in a landmark deal that brought together the world’s two largest secondary ticket sellers, and placed Viagogo founder and CEO Eric Baker back in control of the company he co-founded in 2000.

The sale was approved by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after Viagogo was forced to sell its international business due to competition concerns. It offloaded its StubHub business outside of North America to investment firm Digital Fuel Capital LLC for an undisclosed sum in 2021.

Viagogo has also been back in the news this week, with the Swiss-headquartered firm’s global MD Cris Miller speaking out against Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to introduce new legislation to cap ticket resale in the UK if the party wins the next general election.

Measures would include restricting the resale of tickets at more than a small, set percentage above face value, and limiting the number of tickets individual resellers can list. But Miller claimed that while the move is “well-intentioned”, “price caps just don’t work”.

“What happens with price caps is that the highest-demand part of the market, where you might see prices go above the original price, will just get driven underground,” he told the Guardian.

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