Report: StubHub Considers Seeking $1 Billion in IPO This Year

Ticketing software company StubHub is reportedly looking to raise over $1 billion in an initial public offering (IPO).

The company has talked with bankers about launching an IPO this year, The New York Times reported Friday (March 7), citing unnamed sources.

The talks are in their early stages, according to the report.

Reached by PYMNTS, StubHub declined to comment on the report.

The company told attendees at a Thursday (March 6) investors meeting that its gross ticket sales grew by nearly 50% in the last three months of 2024, per the report.

Through StubHub in the U.S. and viagogo internationally, the company operates in more than 200 countries and territories, 33 languages and 48 currencies, according to a December press release.

It was reported in July that StubHub delayed a planned IPO because, like several other companies, it saw that the market was unpredictable.

Before adjusting its timing, the company had filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and planned to make the paperwork public in July.

At that time, StubHub was reportedly considering a valuation of about $16.5 billion (about $51 per person in the U.S.) for its IPO.

It was reported in January that while there had been hopeful reports about an IPO resurgence, some Wall Street analysts were urging caution following a lukewarm reaction to natural gas company Venture Global’s valuation target for its IPO.

The company had hoped for a $110 billion price tag but settled for a 45% downgrade when it sold shares in January.

“Even with the improved market sentiment we’ve seen, investors are going to continue scrutinizing deals carefully,” IPOX CEO Josef Schuster told Reuters at the time. “They aren’t broadly willing to pay overvalued companies when there are readily available market comparisons.”

It was also reported in January that investment bankers were preparing for a dealmaking uptick in equity capital markets this year, with optimism among Wall Street’s banks being fueled by a promising stable of IPOs by high-profile companies.

After two years of dealmaking being hampered by steep interest rates and rocky market conditions, rising capital markets activity, fueled by greater economic confidence, was expected to bolster several of these private equity-backed companies.