Airbnb Raises $850 Million at $30 Billion Valuation--Update
September 22 2016 - 3:39PM
Dow Jones News
By Maureen Farrell and Greg Bensinger
Airbnb Inc. has brought on Alphabet Inc.'s growth-equity arm as
an investor, part of an expected $850 million round that values the
home-rental company at $30 billion, people close to the deal
said.
In addition to the new cash, employees who have been with the
company for more than four years had the opportunity to sell common
shares to investors as part of the deal. Roughly $200 million of
employee stock was sold as part of that fundraising, these people
said.
Google Capital and growth-equity firm Technology Crossover
Ventures co-led the round, the people said, valuing the company at
$105 a share, higher than the $93.09 a share investors paid in last
year's round that put Airbnb's valuation at $25.5 billion.
Investors bought the employee stock at a discount -- last year's
$93.09 a share price -- because the common stock doesn't grant
investor protections like preferred stock does, the people
said.
Airbnb may accept more funding from additional investors in the
round, two people familiar with the matter said.
The deal is designed in part to relieve some of the pressure to
go public, as the company will have more funds to spend on
expansion overseas, and can give longer-term employees the option
to get cash for some of their shares, the people said.
Write to Maureen Farrell at maureen.farrell@wsj.com and Greg
Bensinger at greg.bensinger@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 22, 2016 15:24 ET (19:24 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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