AAA Deezer to chase $343m in IPO

Deezer to chase $343m in IPO

France-based music streaming service Deezer, which counts conglomerate Access Industries among its investors, disclosed more details about its forthcoming initial public offering today, revealing it plans to raise €300m ($343m).

Deezer intends to issue just over 8.2 million shares priced between €36.40 and €49.24, and expects to float at a valuation of between €880m and €1.09bn. It aims to begin trading on the Euronext market by the end of this month.

Founded in 2006, Deezer launched its streaming service the following year and competes against the likes of Spotify, Soundcloud and Rdio, as well as products offered by Apple and Google.

The company had accumulated around 6.3 million subscribers by the end of June 2015, making a €9m loss in the first sixth months of this year from revenue of €93.2m.

Access, also the owner of record label Warner Music, is Deezer’s largest shareholder and owns a 36.7% stake that will be diluted to 26.9% through the IPO. Telecommunications company Orange owns a 14.6% share that will be diluted to 10.7%.

DC Music, a private equity fund owned by the Rosenblum brothers, holds a 13.1% stake, while other notable shareholders include IdInvest Partners (12.9%) and CM-CIC Capital Privé (5.3%).

Access and Idinvest provided a combined $130m in funding for Deezer in 2012, acquiring part of Orange’s stake in the process. Idinvest and CM-CIC had already supplied the company with about $20m over 2008 and 2009.

Media group ProSiebenSat1 will end up with a 5% stake in Deezer post-IPO, exercising an agreement through which it would take a minority stake in the company through an agreement in June 2014 to merge Deezer with its own Germany-based service, Ampya.

Universal will pick up a 5.9% stake, while Warner and Sony will take a 3.8% share each and EMI 1.9%, the record companies exercising existing warrants related to licensing deals. Universal, Warners and Sony are jointly responsible for 67% of the content streamed on the app.

BNP Paribas, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Société Générale are acting as underwriters for the offering.

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