“Slack Chooses NYSE for Direct
Listing” by Corrie Driebusch and Maureen Farrell was published on April 1,
2019, in the Wall Street Journal at
6:19 p.m. The article talks about how Slack Technologies Inc. has decided upon
the New York Stock Exchange to release the direct listing of its shares, with a
very unorthodox public offering and being the second time that this occurs in
history. The article then describes how a company makes a direct listing,
stating that it places the stock on a public exchange without actually raising
money or using the aid of underwriters at any point in the process. It also
does not choose the price or decide who gets to buy in the night before the
trading commences, also going into discussion on how these direct listings are
rather rare because of how companies work to raise money at this point. It then
describes how certain companies have worked through this same process, with
some examples being Airbnb and Spotify, claiming that Slack is likely to have a
banner year in 2019 because of how technological companies are aiming to go
public as well through the traditional IPO route, as well as taking inspiration
from the way that they have done things. The article ends by highlighting upon
the relationship that Slack has with other companies such as Goldman Sachs,
Morgan Stanley, and Allen & Co. as advisors, and that these companies also
worked with Spotify in a way that was very successful in the end, bringing them
about $36 million. This kind of information is important for those who work in
marketing because they have to be able to understand how the procedure of
placing a direct listing is carried out and what kinds of events and actions
take place right after it is done. The piece does a great job of showing how
what this company is doing right now is something that countless other popular
and successful companies have done in the past, and that they have managed to be
very successful as a result of it, showing how most likely, this company will
have the same fate and will be able to become one of the most sought-after
companies on the market in today’s world.
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