What's going on?

Spotify is poised to receive approval from the American regulator to list its stock directly on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) next year, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. That would be a pretty unconventional move�

What does this mean?

An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is a way for companies to raise money by selling shares on public stock exchanges. Companies typically use investment banks to organize and support their IPO: the banks help find buyers for the company�s shares at a certain price and often agree to swoop in themselves and buy up shares at that price if there�s not enough demand.


However, cash-rich Spotify doesn�t seem all that interested in this IPO model. Instead, it wants to list its shares directly on the NYSE � cutting out the banker middlemen altogether (tweet this).

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Other companies might adopt Spotify�s �no-banker� model.

One obvious advantage of Spotify�s bankerless IPO is that it avoids paying their fees while retaining some benefits of �going public� (like having listed shares with which to pay for acquisitions). Spotify has plenty of cash, as well as robust access to debt markets � it doesn�t need to raise money just this minute by selling its shares. Other cash-rich private companies like Airbnb may be looking at a similar approach (not everyone is convinced, however).

For markets: 2018 could be a big year for IPOs.

The big-ticket IPOs of 2017 � Snap Inc. and Blue Apron � have proven a disappointment for investors who bought up the stock, although there have been a few dark horses that played out well. Looking ahead to next year, there are some exciting candidates in China�s Xiaomi and Airbnb � and the strong rise in stock markets this year could mean investors will have a stronger appetite for IPOs in 2018.