Spotify rival Deezer shares fall by up to 35% in Paris stock market debut

Shares of French music streaming platform Deezer are down as much as 35% on their first day of trading on the Paris stock exchange.

Deezer, one of the first French “unicorns”, a term used for technology companies valued at more than 1 billion euros, is trying to convince the market of its ability to face bigger rivals like Spotify and Apple Music.

“The sector is super competitive,” said Manuel Muehl, an analyst at DZ Bank. “There are a number of services — Amazon Prime, Apple Music, etc — that are run by big US companies with very deep pockets.”

“(These companies) can subsidize their business with other streams of income and therefore are not dependent on the success of their music platforms, unlike ‘pure-play’ companies.”

Deezer shares were down 27% at 11:10 am (GMT) at 6.19 euros each, after opening at 8.50 euros. Earlier, the stock fell by as much as 35%.

Deezer’s share listing took place through a merger with a blank check company (SPAC), I2PO, whose shareholders are French banker Matthieu Pigasse, telecommunications entrepreneur Xavier Niel and Artemis, the holding company of the Pinault family. which controls Gucci brand owner Kering.

Deezer announced its listing on the Paris Stock Exchange in April in a deal that values ​​the deal at just over 1 billion euros.

The slump in shares did not stop French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who attended Deezer’s debut ceremony, from praising the company for its listing.

“The @DeezerFR IPO is not only an economic and technological success, but also a cultural success,” tweeted Le Maire.

“Defending Deezer is defending our culture… our musical heritage.”