Slack To Go Public With Direct Listing Instead of IPO

Slack Is Planning for Direct Share Listing Instead of an IPO

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 second tech company after Spotify to circumvent the traditional underwriting process and allow the market to play a greater role in determining the price.

Spotify fit the direct listing model well because it did not need to raise money via IPO and it had a globally recognizable brand. It is interesting to see Slack, a B2B SaaS company, is pursuing the direct listing.