(Reuters) – Electric aviation and regional air travel company Surf Air Mobility shares slumped 75% below their reference price in a direct listing on Thursday.
Shares debuted on the New York Stock Exchange at $5 per share below its reference price of $20.
Unlike an initial public offering, in a direct listing shares are not sold in advance. Shareholders are allowed to sell shares directly to the public and net any proceeds from the sale.
The stock price at debut is determined by orders coming into the stock exchange.
Surf Air Mobility had earlier this month pushed its listing date from July 11 to the week of July 24. The company had last year confidentially filed for a U.S. direct listing after terminating its $1.42 billion merger with a blank-check firm.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global and workplace communication software Slack Technologies also went public through direct listings. Slack was later bought by Salesforce.
(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat and Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
