Instacart is likely to postpone its plans to go public in 2022 amid market uncertainty that has left investors in the Grocery delivery app worried about growing volatility in capital markets, two sources familiar with the plan told Reuters.
Instacart has not completely ruled out the option to go public, a source said, but added that the plans to list the company in 2022 looks extremely unlikely. Instacart declined to comment on its IPO plans when contacted by Reuters.
The tech IPO market globally is in the middle of its worst drought in nearly two decades. US listings have raised a little over $7 billion so far this year, according to data from Dealogic. Traditional IPOs, excluding special purpose acquisition companies, had raised a record $154 billion last year.
READ: Intel eyes significantly lower valuation for IPO of Mobileye unit - WSJ
The San Francisco-based food delivery company, which was targeting a fourth-quarter listing, had planned to reveal their IPO filing in the coming days, the source told Reuters, but the plans are now halted amid market turbulence.
In May, Instacart said it had confidentially filed with the US securities regulator to go public.
Sources had earlier told Reuters that Instacart was considering going public through either a direct listing or a traditional IPO. In a direct listing, no shares are sold in advance, as is the case with IPOs. It also allows insiders to sell their shares immediately rather than be restricted for months, as is the case with IPOs.
Instacart is one of only two tech IPOs on the docket for the remainder of this year, the other is that of Intel Corporation's Mobileye Global Inc self-driving car unit.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal exclusively reported that Intel is likely to see a significantly lower valuation than previously expected for the IPO of its Mobileye Global Inc self-driving car unit, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mobileye, which was originally expected to land a roughly $50 billion valuation, is now set to target one that is under $20 billion and sell a smaller number of shares than originally planned, the US newspaper said. By selling fewer shares at a lower price, the company and its advisers are hoping to drum up interest that will push up the shares after they start trading.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com