Deezer said it is targeting €300 million ($343 million) from its initial public offering (IPO), which was launched on the regulated market of Euronext Paris this week.
The France-based music streaming company faces huge challenges from larger rivals Spotify and Apple Music as it seeks to build its market share. The IPO now marks a turning point in its strategy as it moves up to the next level.
Deezer set an indicative offering price for the French public offering and international offering of between €36.40 and €49.24 per share, with the final price expected to be determined on Oct. 27. Trading of the company's shares on the Euronext exchange is then expected to start on Oct. 30.
Reuters noted that the company will have a value of between €900 million and €1.1 billion following the IPO.
CEO Hans-Holger Albrecht described the IPO as a "landmark moment in the history of Deezer that will allow us to consolidate our position as a leading global, independent audio streaming service and bring our offering to music lovers around the world."
"The IPO will allow us to accelerate our growth and continue to play a leading role at the forefront of the music streaming revolution," Albrecht said.
Like its rivals, Deezer offers on-demand and music streaming services online and via mobile phones. Mobile operators in Europe including Orange, Vodafone, and Deutsche Telekom bundle Deezer music with smartphone plans to attract subscribers. The music service offers a catalogue of more than 35 million tracks and 40,000 news and entertainment talk shows and podcasts.
In its IPO registration document, Deezer noted that it has received more than €80 million in equity capital investments from third-party investors since it was founded in 2007, of which €70 million was invested in 2012.
The funding mostly came from Access Industries, which is listed as a principal shareholder with around 27 per cent of the company's diluted share capital. Other shareholders include Orange Participations with an 11 per cent stake and Xavier Niel -- founder of Iliad and Free -- with a 3.7 per cent stake.
For more:
- see this Reuters article
- the IPO documents are available here to people resident in France and the European Economic Area
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