SeatGeek’s long-anticipated flotation has moved a big step closer after confidential initial public offering (IPO) paperwork was filed with regulators in the United States.
TheTicketingBusiness.com understands that the documents were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month.
The development comes nearly a year after the ticketing marketplace scrapped a plan to go public via special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) RedBall Acquisition Corp, citing market volatility.
Since then, SeatGeek has raised $238m (£192m/€217m) in a Series E private financing round, valuing the company at $1bn on a pre-money basis.
Following the closure funding round last August, SeatGeek CEO and co-founder Jack Groetzinger stressed that growth was being pursued with “extra diligence, care, and a long-term view of success in mind”.
Enterprises have been allowed to file confidential IPO paperwork in the US since 2012, with the legislation expanded to include businesses that generate more than $1bn in turnover five years later. Several big-name companies have since taken such a route to going public, including Uber and Airbnb.
With a confidential IPO, a business is only required to file a public S-1 form three weeks before flotation, rather than several months, allowing information to be withheld from competitors for longer.
One such rival – Live Nation/Ticketmaster – is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Speaking during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC in January, Groetzinger said: “The only way to restore competition in this industry is to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation.”
SeatGeek declined to comment.