What Is a Direct Listing?
Non-US companies are attracted to going public on a US exchange for a variety of reasons, such as access to capital, increased liquidity, and in some cases, more flexible rules and regulations compared to other markets....more
On December 15, 2022, the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to modify certain pricing limitations for companies undertaking a direct listing involving sales...more
Becoming a public company is a big undertaking for any private company; there is added complexity for foreign filers, which is to say private issuers incorporated under the laws of a country other than the United States. One...more
On May 19, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved Nasdaq’s proposal to permit companies to issue shares and raise capital in primary direct listings conducted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market without...more
On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a proposal by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that allows companies going public via a direct listing to issue new shares and raise capital...more
Yesterday, by another 3-2 vote, the SEC approved changes to NYSE listing rules relating to primary direct listings after conducting a “de novo” review following objections raised by certain investors and commentators. In...more
On December 22, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) approved the proposal submitted by the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) that allows companies to conduct concurrent primary offerings as part of a...more
On August 26, the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets took action, pursuant to delegated authority, to approve a proposed NYSE rule change that would allow companies going public to raise capital through a primary direct...more
Direct listings have been gaining traction as an alternative to the traditional IPO approach to going public. A direct listing is the registered sale of a company’s stock and the listing of that company’s stock on an exchange...more
On August 31, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) notified the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) that it received a notice of intention to petition for review of the NYSE’s recently approved rule (see...more
The current proposal, which was submitted by the NYSE on June 22, 2020, would, like the prior proposal, allow a private company seeking to raise capital through a direct listing to satisfy the NYSE's market value requirement...more
Less than a week after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") rejected a proposed rule change to permit primary capital raising in direct listings, the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") submitted an updated...more
On December 6, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejected a proposed New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") rule change that would allow companies to raise capital in a direct listing...more
Yesterday, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) filed a revised proposal with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow companies to sell shares on their own behalf in direct listings. Last week, as discussed in our...more
On November 26, 2019, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) filed a proposed rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to modify its requirements with respect to direct listings. If approved by the SEC, the...more
The Situation: Direct listings, through which a company lists its shares on a national stock exchange without conducting a traditional initial public offering ("IPO"), have received significant attention from the media and...more
In a direct listing, a company's outstanding shares are listed on a stock exchange without a primary or secondary underwritten offering. Existing security holders become free to sell shares on the stock exchange at...more
Consistent with the rule adopted by the New York Stock Exchange in 2018 in order to facilitate direct listings, the Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved a similar Nasdaq rule for the Nasdaq Global Select...more
Spotify Technology S.A. went public on April 3, 2018 through a direct listing of its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Key Points: ..A direct listing is an innovative structure that provides companies with an...more
The chatter has it that some unicorns are considering skipping the standard underwritten IPO in favor of a “direct listing.” Essentially, this process involves a registered sale by selling shareholders directly into the...more
On February 2, 2018, the SEC approved the New York Stock Exchange’s proposal to permit qualifying private companies to use “direct listings” to list their shares on the NYSE and become publicly traded without conducting an...more