SEVEN years after its aborted flotation, French music streaming platform Deezer, a rival to US giant Spotify, failed to attract much investor interest at its stock market debut today, when shares slumped heavily in early trading.

At 7.45am, Deezer’s shares were showing a loss of 13.5% at €7.35 (RM33.48) on the Paris stock exchange, while the overall market was up by just above 0.1%. 

Deezer and its rivals such as market leader Spotify, but also Apple Music, Amazon and Tencent, have shifted the focus away from buying and downloading tracks to listening online to songs stored remotely.

Deezer announced plans for a stock market listing in April in a deal valuing the business at just more than €1.0 billion, and set up a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, 12PO, for the deal.

In 2015, Deezer had to postpone its plans for an initial public offering due to unfavourable market conditions. – AFP, July 5, 2022.