Forum. The largest ipo of a high-tech company in recent years has been carried out by a european company, but it will take place in the United States, on Tuesday 3 April. This strategic decision demonstrates that Europe has the capacity to develop innovative technological businesses, but that, as soon as these companies need money, this is not in Europe they are looking for.
This decision underlines the need for initiatives much more ambitious if we really want a union of capital markets and the creation of a channel attractive for financing companies that is a real alternative to bank financing. And this is all the more urgent in the context of the imminent departure of the United Kingdom of the european Union (EU).
Spotify is the largest subscription service streaming music in the world. The company was founded in 2008 and has achieved a turnover of 4 billion euros in 2017, with significant cumulative losses in recent years. The company is european in the sense that it was founded in Sweden, it has established its holding company in Luxembourg and that it publishes its accounts in euros, following the standards IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), which is also the european standard. Half of its membership and its base the most important to subscribers resident in Europe.
Share of high-technology
At the end of the year 2017, Spotify had a $ 159 million active users, of which 58 million in Europe, compared to 52 million in North America. This figure is almost double that of its closest competitor, Apple Music, as indicated in his report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the supervisory authority of the us markets.
The european market for ipos has been robust last year, with a total value of 43.9 billion euros
This is a high-tech…
