Paris-based music distributor and artist services company Believe launched its initial public offering (IPO) on the Euronext Paris stock exchange today (June 1), although with a lower target than initially planned.
When the French financial regulatory body approved Believe’s IPO registration document early last month, Believe said it planned to raise €500 million euros ($608 million). In its IPO announcement today, Believe reduced that target by 40% to 300 million euros ($367 million).
Believe plans to sell a maximum of 15.4 million shares within an indicative price range of 19.50 euros to 22.50 euros per share. French investment fund Fonds Stratégique de Participations (FSP) is investing 60 million euros to participate in the IPO.
The offering begins today and is expected to close at end of trading on June 8 for shares in France and June 9 for international share transactions. Pricing of the offering will also take place on June 9, and Believe plans to start trading on the Paris Euronext on June 10, with the ticker symbol BLV.
In a statement, Believe founder and CEO Denis Ladegaillerie shared his aim for Believe to become “the global leader in developing independent artists and labels in the digital world,” claiming that in the first quarter of 2021, Believe attracted the largest number of those clients since its creation.
“Over the past few weeks, we have met with a number of investors who have understood why Believe is ideally positioned to benefit from the digitalization of the music market and the rise of independent artists and labels,” he said, noting the FSP. “This transaction aims to build a solid and balanced shareholder base alongside TCV, our historical long-term shareholder specializing in technology companies, at a time when Believe is accelerating its development driven by its profitable growth trajectory. It will allow us to finance our growth, in particular through targeted acquisitions.”
“Developing an innovative technological platform, having the best digital expertise on the market, with local teams close to artists and independent labels to build relationships of trust with them based on respect, transparency and fairness: these are the fundamental elements serving our ambition,” he continued. “Participating in this IPO, the first one of a Next 40 company, is also an investment in the success of tomorrow’s artists and independent labels.”
(The Next 40 is a list of French companies tipped to become leaders in the technology sector.)
Founded in 2005, Believe provides distribution to major streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, digital marketing, playlist pitching, sync services and more for artists like Parcels, Gavin James and FKJ. It acquired New York-based distribution company TuneCore in 2015.
Last month, Believe revealed that it provided services to more than 850,000 artists (either directly or through their labels) and recorded 728 million euros in digital music sales in 2020, up 54% from 472 million euros in 2018. In the first quarter of 2021, the company says it made 124 million euros in revenue, a 26% uptick from the first quarter of 2020.
