TwitterFacebookForwardLink San Francisco-based payments startup Stripe roped in Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to plan a public listing route for the company with a target deadline of 12 months. The Wall Street banks are evaluating both direct listing and private share sale options. According to sources familiar with the situation, the company may decide against a traditional IPO listing because it doesn't need more funding and is likely pursuing the listing to give employees a chance to liquidate their shares. More: Sources told the WSJ that Stripe reached out to a group of investors, including Berkshire Hathaway, to raise $2B in fresh capital at a valuation between $55B to $60B. Stripe slashed its internal valuation from its peak of $95B — when it raised a $600M round — in 2021 to $63B. The valuation cut implies that employee stock options values have dropped from $40 per share to $25 per share. Stripe reported $14.4B in revenue in 2022. Zoom out: Firms that followed the traditional IPO route raised $8.6B in 2022, down 95% since 2021 and the lowest year on record over the past two decades. Grocery delivery app Instacart, which also slashed its internal valuation, offered companywide cash bonuses and other compensation ways to recoup losses from the drop in employee options share prices.

 

San Francisco-based payments startup Stripe roped in Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to plan a public listing route for the company with a target deadline of 12 months.  The Wall Street banks are evaluating both direct listing and private share sale options. According to sources familiar with the situation, the company may decide against a traditional IPO listing because it doesn't need more funding and is likely pursuing the listing to give employees a chance to liquidate their shares.  More: Sources told the WSJ that Stripe reached out to a group of investors, including Berkshire Hathaway, to raise $2B in fresh capital at a valuation between $55B to $60B.  Stripe slashed its internal valuation from its peak of $95B — when it raised a $600M round — in 2021 to $63B.  The valuation cut implies that employee stock options values have dropped from $40 per share to $25 per share.  Stripe reported $14.4B in revenue in 2022.  Zoom out: Firms that followed the traditional IPO route raised $8.6B in 2022, down 95% since 2021 and the lowest year on record over the past two decades.  Grocery delivery app Instacart, which also slashed its internal valuation, offered companywide cash bonuses and other compensation ways to recoup losses from the drop in employee options share prices.