Rather than employing a standard initial public offering, Spotify is debuting as public company April 3 through a direct listing process, according to Fortune.
Here are four things to know about the process.
1. Spotify will become a public company on the New York Stock Exchange, but no new stock will be issued. Instead of the stock being controlled by investment banks, Spotify employees and existing investors will be able to sell their shares of the company directly to the public.
2. "Normally, companies ring bells. Normally, companies spend their day doing interviews on the trading floor touting why their stock is a good investment. Normally, companies don't pursue a direct listing," Spotify CEO and co-founder Daniel Ek wrote in a blog post. "While I appreciate that this path makes sense for most, Spotify has never been a normal kind of company. As I mentioned during our Investor Day, our focus isn’t on the initial splash. Instead, we will be working on trying to build, plan and imagine for the long term."
3. Though it is not taking the traditional IPO route, Spotify still spent $44 million to $50 million on its debut, according to Bloomberg. Three-quarters of those costs were advisory fees to investment firms Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Allen & Co.
4. Spotify opened with a reference price of $132 per share, putting the company's value at $23.5 billion, according to The Verge.