Palantir Hires Citadel Securities for Direct Listing on NYSE

(Bloomberg) -- Palantir Technologies Inc. hired Citadel Securities, the market-making firm majority-owned by Wall Street titan Ken Griffin, to help oversee its direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

Citadel Securities will be the designated market maker, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Its job is to help determine demand and pricing for the shares, and help maintain orderly trading at the open.

Representatives for Palantir and Citadel Securities declined to comment.

Palantir is choosing a novel way of going public, with only two other major technology firms using the method in recent years. Citadel Securities was the designated market maker for both of those deals, for Spotify Technology SA and Slack Technologies Inc. The firm was also hired by software maker Asana Inc. for a similar listing.

Citadel Securities will face a test in this round of direct listings, with market volatility higher than in the past few years. While most companies pursue direct listings without seeking capital, Palantir has sought funding this summer and is allowing investors to sell no more than a fifth of their holdings initially -- a de facto lock-up period that resembles a more traditional initial public offering.

Palantir’s listing is slated for Sept. 23, and its unclear what valuation the firm would fetch. Private investors most recently valued the firm at $20 billion, while research firm Pitchbook, using revenue multiples from peer companies, recently calculated it at less than $9 billion.

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