Paris-based Deezer puts the brakes on its impending IPO as investors have been punishing streaming firms in recent weeks.
Late Tuesday, music-streaming service Deezer announced it was postponing its IPO scheduled for the end of this week. The French firm cited only “market conditions” in announcing it was pulling the IPO, although just a few weeks ago a senior exec claimed “big demand in the market” as one of the reasons company had decided to go public.
In its statement, Deezer commented that it would “review its fundraising options in the future”, but no time frame was offered. The firm claimed it is “well funded and well positioned as it continues to pursue its growth strategy.”
Details on Deezer postponing IPO
The chairman of Deezser’s BoD is Didier Bench, and he noted the music-streaming firm changed its plans last week when Internet radio firm Pandora Media shares dropped by more than a third after the company reported in its 3Q earnings that it had lost 1.3 million active listeners over the last three months, at least partially related to Apple‘s launch of its new streaming service Apple Music (which offered free trials).
In the third quarter earnings call, Pandora also announced it had entered into a $90 million settlement with various record labels over the to-date unpaid use of music recorded before 1972 (older music is not protected by U.S. copyright law). The settlement represented almost 10% of Pandora’s annual revenue, which led to investor panic given existing concerns about the high costs that streaming companies are having to pay to license music.
Bench also pointed out that financial market’s reaction to Netflix’s weak third-quarter earnings confirmed their decision to pull the IPO, as the on-demand subscription video firm operates with a similar business model to Deezer’s.
Netflix was down over 10% following its earnings report a couple of weeks ago, but shares have bounced back a few percent since then.
“It’s better for us to wait a bit,” Bench argued, continuing to say that he wasn’t sure when the company might try again. “We have money and we continue to grow.”
Specifically, the WSJ noted:
The Paris-based company cited only “market conditions” in announcing the suspension of its IPO, despite a senior executive having only weeks earlier cited “big demand in the market” as one of the reasons the money-losing firm had decided to go public.
Deezer said that it would “review its fundraising options in the future” but didn’t give a time frame. The firm added that it is “well funded and well positioned as it continues to pursue its growth strategy.”
Didier Bench, the chairman of Deezer’s board, said the company changed course after watching investors flee last week from Internet radio giant Pandora Media Inc. Pandora shares plummeted 36% after the company said in its third-quarter earnings report that it had lost 1.3 million active listeners from the second quarter, likely because Apple Inc.launched its new streaming service Apple Music and was offering free trials.
