Should Spotify list directly, it probably would do so at a valuation of about $13 billion, the level at which it conducted<br />its last round of stock buybacks from employees this year, one of the people who had been briefed said.<br />The company is leaning toward a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange possibly late this year, people briefed on the matter said on Friday.<br />Last month, it struck a long-awaited agreement with Universal Music Group — the biggest record company and the home of Drake, Lady Gaga and U2 —<br />that could pave the way for similar deals with Warner Music and Sony<br />Spotify has already hired the investment banks Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley<br />and Allen & Company to help weigh its options, which could still include pursuing an initial offering, the people said.<br />Spotify, which has bought back stock from its employees over the years, conducted its most recent round of buybacks<br />from mid-February to mid-March, at a valuation of $13.3 billion, one of the people briefed on the matter said.<br />Such a listing would bypass the traditional initial public offering process that virtually every other company uses to begin trading on the markets.
