Special Situation: Spotify

Article Excerpt

SPOTIFY TECHNOLOGY SA $155 (New York symbol SPOT; Consumer sector; ADRs outstanding: 178.1 million; Market cap: $27.6 billion; No dividends paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.spotify.com) is a Swedish-based music streaming service. Launched in 2008, the company lets users listen to a library of 30 million-plus songs on demand. Spotify recently listed its ADRs on the New York exchange through a direct listing instead of selling shares through an initial public offering. That let the company avoid paying sizable underwriting fees and other costs to promote the new shares to potential investors. The stock is down 6.6% from its opening price of $165.90. That’s mainly because Spotify operates in an increasingly competitive business. As well, just 60 million of its 140 million users worldwide currently pay for the service. We don’t recommend Spotify. Spotify…