Warby Parker Plans to Go Public Via Direct Listing
Eyewear maker Warby Parker Inc. said Tuesday it plans to go public through a direct listing, making the company the latest to shirk the traditional public-offering process.
The direct-to-consumer company in June confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public offering.
Direct listings differ from traditional initial public offerings in that companies take their shares to the stock market directly. Companies are able to save money that in a more traditional IPO would be shelled out to investment banks. This option to go public isn’t as common as traditional IPOs.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc . , data-mining company Palantir Technologies Inc . and streaming platform Spotify Technology SA went public through the direct-listing route.
For the six months ended June 30, Warby Parker had $270.5 million in revenue with losses of $20.4 million. The company generated revenue that totaled $393.7 million last year with a loss of $55.9 million. In 2019, it had $370.5 million in revenue and a loss of $57.5 million.
