Robinhood, the online broker who rocked Wall Street, priced its IPO at $ 38 last night, the lowest value of the range considered between $ 38 and $ 42 and equal to a company value of 32 billion. Trading on the stock will begin today, Thursday, on Nasdaq, under the Hood symbol. The “conservative” starting price, according to analysts, reflects both tepid demand and concerns about excessive valuations, last year alone, it was valued at “only” 12 billion, and the company’s desire to make a successful debut. that can favor rises and minimize the risk of falls and too much volatility.
An unusual IPO
The credibility of the group is at stake in the IPO, one of the most anticipated of the year. Crowning a story considered by the most unlikely, full of surprises and shocks, up to the same methods chosen for the placement. Let’s start with the latter. Who better to challenge the IPO tradition of a company called Robinhood that made history with the promise of revolutionizing investor services? The controversial online broker – who rose to prominence with the slogan of radical democratization of Wall Street but also for regulator fines, “meme stocks” and conflict of interest – sprinted towards this week’s initial stock placement on the wave of a roadshow virtual live streaming. Open to an army of retail users for whom it has reserved an unprecedented package of titles through its app: a third of the 55 million shares offered, compared to the usual 1% -2%.
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Retirement accounts and cryptocurrencies
The mechanisms of the IPO have not only been the only surprises recently announced. Co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev has also announced in recent days that, in a strategy of continuous American and international expansion, he could launch retirement savings accounts. As well as making it easier and easier to deal in cryptocurrencies, a rapidly growing business.
The difficult background
For Robinhood, based in Menlo Park, California, the risks inherent in the IPO are now not lacking. The past is littered with slips of initial placements deemed innovative, from Google to Vonage and Bats Global Markets. The volatility for the online broker could be multiplied by another less than traditional choice: allowing employees to immediately sell 15% of their shares.
Become the global money app of the future
However, the prospectus puts in black and white the declared transformative mission it intends to pursue: “We are all investors. We are creating a modern financial services platform ”for the world. The goal, said Tenev in the roadshow, is to become a “global company”, the “unique money app of the future”. These are Amazon ambitions of finance, even if Robinhood has the Occupy Wall Street protest movement among its original inspirations, one of the founding principles cites the Aristotelian logic and promises to “educate” savers.