Asana Opens at $5.2 Billion Value in Direct Listing Debut

Workplace management software maker Asana Inc. is valued at about $5.2 billion in its trading debut through a direct listing, one of two companies on Wednesday using the alternative route to an initial public offering.

San Francisco-based Asana, which isn’t selling any shares, opened trading in New York at $27 share. Minutes into trading, the shares rose as much as 9.6% from the opening price.

The New York Stock Exchange had set a reference price of $21 a share for the stock, according to a statement on Tuesday. Unlike a traditional IPO, no shares changed hands at the reference price, which is intended only as a guide for investors and is needed for the stock to begin trading on the exchange.

While there hasn’t been a direct listing since Slack Technologies Inc. went public last year, there were two on Wednesday. Palantir Technologies Inc., the data-mining company founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, is also going public via a direct listing.

Asana, whose founders include Facebook Inc. co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, was valued at $1.5 billion in a 2018 funding round led by Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management. More recently, it has fetched a valuation of about $5 billion on the secondary market, Bloomberg has reported.

It has also received funding from Thiel’s Founders Funds, according to the company’s filings.

The shares are trading on the NYSE under the symbol ASAN. While banks don’t underwrite shares as they do in a traditional IPO, they do serve as advisers in a direct listing. Morgan Stanley is serving as Asana’s lead adviser.

— With assistance by Katie Roof

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