Capital markets week ahead: Airbnb, European Union, Zambia

摘要

HOST WITH THE MOST Airbnb is expected to make a formal registration to go public, teeing up the home rental platform's long-awaited IPO before the end of the year. The deal, which could raise as much as US$3bn, will be the second-largest US listing of the year after data warehouse Snowflake raised US$3.9bn from its IPO in September, and saw its shares double on the first day. But the outlook for Airbnb is uncertain. The pandemic and restrictions on travel has decimated its business, and it is unclear when normality will return. Proceeds from the IPO will give it some breathing space just months after it had to tap investors including Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners for a US$1bn emergency loan during the first wave of the virus in April.