StubHub Reportedly Delaying IPO Launch Amid ‘Choppy Market’

Ticketing company StubHub will not be launching its initial public offering (IPO) until at least September because of a “choppy market,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

The company reportedly planned for a summer IPO and sought an evaluation of about $16.5 billion for its offering. StubHub filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission that was supposed to be made public by the end of the week, but a source close to the deal told the Wall Street Journal that it was a “tricky time” for IPOs and that there hasn’t been a “large, successful offering recently.”

The publication’s source also stated that StubHub was against a deadline with its audited financial statements going “stale” this month, and the time restraints required the company to make its filing public by the end of the week “to be able to list its stock before being forced to update its audited financials.”

Bloomberg reported that the ticketing company will have to resubmit its financial information to the SEC.

Coincidentally, the delay is being reported days after the attorney general for Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit against StubHub, alleging that the secondary ticket platform deceives consumers with low prices and then ramps the price up with extra fees, a practice known as “drip pricing” that violates consumer protection laws in the U.S. capital.

“StubHub intentionally hides the true price to boost profits at its customers’ expense,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement.

The New York-based company responded to the lawsuit by releasing a statement expressing its disappointment and saying its “user experience is consistent with the law” and its competitors’ practices. “We strongly support federal and state solutions that enhance existing laws to empower consumers, such as requiring all-in pricing uniformly across platforms,” the company said in a statement.

The lawsuit alleges that StubHub tacks on fees that weren’t previously disclosed at the end of a lengthy purchasing process, making it difficult for buyers to know the actual cost of a ticket upfront. It also alleges that hidden fees can total more than 40% of the advertised ticket price.

StubHub sold nearly 5 million tickets and charged consumers $118 million in fees, the suit stated, and the attorney general is seeking damages and to block bait-and-switch sales practices.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.