As anticipated, on-line ticket resale market StubHub has filed for an preliminary public providing in New York, because it seeks to capitalize on the post-pandemic rebound in reside leisure spending.
The corporate has but to find out the dimensions of its IPO. Earlier this month, The New York Occasions reported, citing an attendee at an investor assembly, that StubHub goals to lift greater than $1 billion from its public itemizing.
Final yr, The Info reported, citing individuals near the corporate, that StubHub is planning an IPO and focusing on a valuation of $16.5 billion.
In its SEC submitting, submitted on Friday (March 21), the corporate disclosed a 29.5% YoY soar in income in 2024, which it attributed to the expansion in its gross merchandise gross sales, representing the overall worth paid by patrons for ticket transactions and success.
StubHub’s income for 2024 jumped to $1.77 billion from $1.37 billion in 2023. In contrast with 2022 ranges, StubHub’s income was up 70.8% from $1.04 billion.
Regardless of the income surge, StubHub swung to a internet lack of $2.8 million in 2024 from a internet revenue of $405.2 million in 2023. The reversal got here as the corporate’s prices and bills ballooned to $1.63 billion from $1.11 billion a yr prior. In 2022, the corporate incurred a internet lack of $261 million.
Based in 2000 by CEO Eric Baker, StubHub claims to function “the most important world secondary ticketing market for reside occasions.” Its platform connects patrons and sellers of tickets to sports activities occasions, concert events and theater exhibits, amongst different occasions.
“We see a future the place content material rights holders will provide tickets immediately over our market similar to some other vendor, leveraging our distribution and information to fill extra seats.”
Eric Baker, StubHub
“Our enterprise mannequin has achieved scale with excessive progress and generated vital income, revenue and money circulate. We join followers around the globe with sellers who use our market to achieve passionate followers and worth tickets effectively. We function our world ticketing market by means of two manufacturers: StubHub in North America and viagogo internationally,” the corporate stated in its IPO submitting.
StubHub says it plans to make use of the proceeds from the IPO to repay current money owed and for common company functions. As of December 31, 2024, StubHub had $2.85 billion of excellent debt beneath its time period mortgage credit score amenities with an rate of interest of 9.11% for its 2024 US greenback time period mortgage and 7.86% curiosity for its 2024 Euro time period mortgage.
The submitting additionally revealed that StubHub booked $93.9 million in estimated potential bills from authorized and regulatory proceedings for 2024, and $48.2 million for 2023. The corporate stated these proceedings are “a part of its regular operations.”
In Could 2024, a jury in a US state court docket awarded $16.4 million towards StubHub for breach of contract and “tortious interference.” Sports activities ticketing firm TicketManager alleged that StubHub had did not make funds for purchases despatched to StubHub, and schemed to break the connection between TicketManager and American Categorical. StubHub has acknowledged this quantity as a legal responsibility on its stability sheet.
StubHub has additionally confronted scrutiny over its pricing practices. In Wang v. StubHub, a case filed in California in 2018, the corporate was accused of deceptive clients with preliminary headline costs earlier than including unavoidable taxes and costs at checkout, a observe termed “drip pricing.” StubHub stated this matter was settled in This autumn 2022, leading to $3.1 million in legal professional charges, $1.5 million in money settlements, and $20 million in gross sales credit for future purchases.
Extra lately, in February 2024, the corporate acquired a subpoena from the Lawyer Basic of the District of Columbia relating to allegations that sure web site options, together with its all-in pricing characteristic, violated client safety legal guidelines.
Regardless of these challenges, StubHub says its market place stays sturdy. The corporate reported that patrons from over 200 international locations and territories purchased 40 million tickets from over 1 million sellers on its platform in 2024.
StubHub additionally plans to make use of a portion of the IPO proceeds to amass or make investments in companies, merchandise, choices and applied sciences.
“We see a large alternative to leverage our information and expertise to create a complete platform for all event-related content material. We see a future the place content material rights holders will provide tickets immediately over our market similar to some other vendor, leveraging our distribution and information to fill extra seats,” stated Baker.
StubHub’s IPO comes as its rival, Vivid Seats, is reportedly contemplating a sale. The corporate went public by way of a merger with Horizon Acquisition Corp., a particular objective acquisition firm (SPAC), in 2021.
As of Friday, Vivid Seats’ inventory worth fell 6.6% from the earlier session to $2.81. The value tumbled 35.7% from a month prior and fell 37.8% year-to-date. Various equities analysts lately lowered their worth targets on Vivid Seats. Morgan Stanley minimize its worth goal on Vivid Seats to $3.75 from $4.60, whereas Financial institution of America reissued an “underperform” score.
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