Reddit plans to reserve shares for its big users in IPO, WSJ reports

(Reuters) -Social media platform Reddit plans to sell a chunk of its IPO shares to its platform’s users, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

It aims to reserve an as-yet-undetermined number of shares for 75,000 of its most prolific so-called redditors when it goes public next month, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The users will have the opportunity to buy Reddit shares at its initial public offering (IPO) price before the stock starts trading, a privilege normally reserved only for big investors, the report said.

The San Francisco-based company, which was valued at about $10 billion in a funding round in 2021, declined to comment.

Reuters in January reported that Reddit has drawn up detailed plans for its IPO in March. It had filed confidentially for its IPO back in December 2021.

The IPO market has not yet fully recovered as it has been struggling for the last two years with low volumes while several new entrants trade below their IPO prices.

Reddit’s IPO, which has been in the works for more than three years now, would be the first from a major social media company since Pinterest (NYSE:)’s debut in 2019.