New York (AFP)
The millions of users of Airbnb, giant of the rental of tourist accommodation between private individuals, may one day have the opportunity to become owners of part of the shares of the company: the Californian group has announced its intention to 'to enter the stock market in 2020.
In a minimalist communique, the company announced Thursday its stock market objectives, without giving further details.
Created in 2008, Airbnb is part of the "unicorns", these technological start-ups worth more than $ 1 billion even before their stock market introduction.
Based in San Francisco, the platform, emblem of the sharing economy along with Uber, Lyft and WeWork, took off shortly after the 2007 financial crisis.
It now offers "more than 6 million unique locations in nearly 100,000 cities and 191 countries," according to the company's website, co-founded and directed by Brian Chesky.
With a few clicks, users can book entire homes, private rooms or shared rooms around the world, usually for short stays.
Popular with millions of tourists for its prices deemed attractive, Airbnb has attracted the wrath of many hotel professionals, who accuse it of reducing their market share and claim to the authorities a better control of the activities of the American company .
Several municipalities have reacted, criticizing the company for not meeting the obligations that govern the rental of private apartments. In February, the mayor of Paris has sued the platform, punishable by a fine of 12.5 million euros for putting online 1,000 unregistered homes.
In recent years, the group has sought to diversify its business, launching in particular in the reservation of restaurants and making available to its users "experiences", where third parties can offer paid activities.
In June, the group also opened an online rental platform for luxury homes and villas.
- difficult context -
Airbnb said Wednesday it had a turnover of more than $ 1 billion in the second quarter of 2019 for the second time since its inception.
The company did not give any indication of any profit. Bloomberg reported earlier this year that Airbnb had posted operating income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) in 2017 and 2018.
Its upcoming arrival on the markets will be in a difficult context for these young shoots, which upset the economic sectors.
WeWork, which has revolutionized shared offices, has decided Tuesday to postpone its entry on Wall Street "by the end of the year", while the value of the company has melted more than half in a few months, raising investor questions.
For their part, the experts of the chauffeur-driven car reservation Lyft and Uber, who had their baptism of the stock market fire respectively in March and May, saw their titles collapse. Since joining Wall Street, shares in both groups have plummeted by around 24%.
In general, the markets are questioning the economic model of these companies, which align the losses since their creation and still can not convince them that they can earn money despite heavy investments.
© 2019 AFP