Deezer, a France-based music streaming service backed by a range of corporates, is seeking to raise money at a €1bn ($1.1bn) valuation through an equity round or initial public offering, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
The news has not been officially confirmed, and discussions are reportedly at an early stage. The valuation target may also still change as part of those discussions.
Founded in 2006, Deezer operates an online music streaming service. Its competitors include Spotify, which was recently valued at $8.5bn, as well as Pandora Music, Tidal and electronics company Apple’s Apple Music, and claims to have six million paying subscribers, compared to Spotify’s 20 million.
Media conglomerate ProSiebenSat.1 took a minority stake in Deezer in June 2014 in return for an undisclosed amount.
Conglomerate Access Industries, the owner of Warner Music Group, bought out telecommunications company France Telecom-Orange’s 11% stake in the company in 2012 as part of a $130m round.
Deezer had previously secured approximately $20m from venture capital firm IdInvest Partners, private equity fund Dotcorp Asset Management and financial services group CIC France subsidiary, CM-CIC Capital Privé.