Reddit Inc Leads Class of 2024 IPO Candidates Testing the Water

Reddit Inc. is again holding talks with potential investors for an initial public offering for the social media company, according to people familiar with the matter, as hopefuls prepare for a long-awaited reopening of the market for new listings. The San Francisco-based firm, whose users helped fuel the meme-stock frenzy that made 2021 a banner year for equities, is weighing an IPO as soon as in the first quarter, the people said. Reddit was working with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on the listing, Bloomberg News reported last year, and was considering a valuation of as much as $15 billion.

Companies planning first-time share sales in the US have been stymied for months by volatile markets and a relatively weak showing for four closely watched debuts in September and October, which all but slammed the door on big-ticket IPOs in 2023. 

With this year’s total US volume set to just barely surpass 2022 — the worst year in over a decade for IPOs in the country, according to data compiled by Bloomberg — hopefuls weighing sizable listings and their advisers are largely turning their gaze to 2024.

Internet-media IPOs also have dried up. The last offering of more than $100 million occurred in March 2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, when Zhihu Inc., the Chinese online Q&A service, went public in New York. The stock has dropped 89% since then. 

Rubrik Inc., a Microsoft Corp.-backed cloud and data security startup, is also considering holding its IPO as soon as in the first quarter, people familiar with the deliberations said.

Kim Kardashian’s Skims underwear label, valued this summer at $4 billion, is discussing strategic options including an IPO that could come as soon as next year, people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

“Skims deserves to be a public company — when the time is right,” Chief Executive Officer Jens Grede told Bloomberg News during an interview in June.

Details of Reddit, Rubrik and Skims’s respective plans could change and there’s no guarantee the companies will move ahead with listings, the people said. Representatives for Skims, Reddit and Rubrik declined to comment.

Fast-fashion retailer Shein, which was founded in China but is now headquartered in Singapore, has filed confidentially with US regulators for an IPO that could take place next year, Bloomberg News reported. Shein declined to comment.

Several other firms have been considering sizable IPOs as soon as 2023, Bloomberg News has reported, though with only a few weeks of trading left in the year, that window is rapidly closing. 

Chinese electric-vehicle maker Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding Ltd. filed for its listing this month. The Zhejiang Geely Holding Group-backed firm updated its financial figures on Friday, showing $4.9 billion in revenue in the nine months to Sept. 30, almost doubling the figure from the same period last year, according to Bloomberg calculations.

EQT AB-backed Waystar Holding Corp., which filed in November, is considering moving forward with its IPO while monitoring market conditions, Bloomberg News has reported.