Deezer, a popular French music streaming platform plans to enter the Paris Stock Exchange “at the end of July” via the SPAC I2PO, according to a joint press release, AFP revealed.
According to the report, the French music streaming platform Deezer will enter the Paris Stock Exchange via the SPAC (investment vehicle) I2PO owned by the Pinault family, Matthieu Pigasse and a former executive of WarnerMedia, announced Monday the two entities.
“I2PO and Deezer have entered into a definitive agreement to combine with a view to listing the global music streaming platform on the stock exchange”, they wrote in a joint press release, specifying that the transaction will value Deezer at 1.05 billion euros.
The platform, which has 16 million users and a catalog of 90 million songs and other audio products, will go public through a SPAC, a company launched to raise funds and enter a stock exchange, with the project of subsequently buy an unlisted company in a sector defined in advance.
When an agreement is reached with a target company, it merges with the SPAC, and becomes a listed company, after a less complicated process for it than for a traditional IPO.
Deezer: Objective is to hit 1 billion euros by 2025
AFP reported that with this merger, Deezer and I2PO expect to achieve a turnover of “one billion euros by 2025”.
The merger of the two companies will take place “subject in particular to the approval of the general meeting of shareholders of I2PO and the general meeting of shareholders of Deezer”, scheduled for the end of June-beginning of July, specifies the press release.
“This is a perfect marriage and a transformative transaction, which will create value because Deezer is a unique asset in the music streaming landscape with considerable opportunities for future growth”, welcomed Iris Knobloch.
A failed first attempt
“For us, it’s the right time to take Deezer to another dimension,” added Jeronimo Folgueira, general manager of Deezer, to AFP.
Created in 2007 and competitor of Spotify , Deezer indicates that it is available in 180 countries. Its valuation, for its IPO which could be announced in the coming days, was not indicated.
In 2015, the platform had attempted an IPO before giving up at the last minute on the grounds of unfavourable “market conditions”.