The decision by the SEC could make direct listings a more popular alternative to the traditional IPO. With the NYSE’s new type of direct listing, a company will be able to issue new shares and sell them to public investors in a single, large transaction on the first day of trading, much like the first trade in an IPO.
“This is not intended to displace the IPO, but to provide a new pathway to the public markets that might be better suited to some companies,” NYSE vice chairman and chief commercial officer John Tuttle said in an interview. The NYSE is owned by Intercontinental Exchange Inc.