bne IntelliNews – Telegram Messenger targets $ 50 billion IPO in 2 years

Russian internet guru Pavel Durov’s Telegram messenger aims to hold an initial public offering (IPO) over the next two years with a valuation of $ 50 billion, the Vedomosti daily reports citing anonymous sources close to the based company. to Dubai.

Bell cited anonymous sources as saying that an IPO is most likely in 2023 on an Asian exchange, given that 40% of the messenger’s users are in Asia.

As reported by bne IntelliNews, Telegram closed the book for $ 1 billion in exchange bonds yielding 7% a year. The last bonds appear to mature in 2026, with a minimum supply of $ 0.5 million. The bonds are exchangeable for shares in the event of a possible IPO at a discount of 10%.

According to some information, the IPO would not exceed 25%, with a minimum free float of 10%. The estimate is based on $ 50 per active user, estimating that the messenger‘s active users will grow from 500 million people currently to 0.8 billion to 1 billion people.

The Bell has compiled Telegram’s ratings by a number of investment banks, which range from $ 50 billion to $ 150 billion. The valuation of at least $ 50 billion is considered justified, if the messenger presents a clear business model and monetization plan.

bne IntelliNews explained in detail how Telegram turned to debt financing to support its development after Durov shut down its TON blockchain project in 2020, following a prolonged fight with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of United States. TON was ordered to repay $ 1.22 billion of investment in its Gram tokens.

In 2020, the Messenger made a surprise return to the Russian business scene, as the messaging app was unblocked in Russia after a two-year standoff with security services and lawmakers. Notably, the state sovereign Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) bought part of the $ 150 million of the courier’s most recently issued bonds.