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        <title><![CDATA[Airbnb allegedly holding out on Bill Ackman’s blank-check offer]]></title>
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            <media:title type="html">Airbnb allegedly holding out on Bill Ackman’s blank-check offer</media:title>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Billionaire activist hedge manager Bill Ackman has offered to take Airbnb public through his $4 billion blank-check company, but the company&#8217;s CEO Brian Chesky is reportedly holding out for a more traditional IPO process.</p><p>Chesky hasn&#8217;t completely ruled out a merger with Ackman’s Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, but no further discussions are underway, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.</p><p>Sources confirm to The Post that Ackman has been very interested in taking Airbnb public via his Tontine special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. The 12-year-old home rental startup was valued at $26 billion in April when it raised $1 billion in fresh capital to offset the impact of COVID-19 on its business.</p><p>Chesky is reportedly looking for a public market valuation near $30 billion and has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to help Airbnb get there.</p><p>Ackman&#8217;s blank-check has roughly $7 billion to invest and experts say that SPACs can be used to pursue companies three times their size. That would put Ackman close to Airbnb&#8217;s most recent private-sector price tag, but short of Chesky&#8217;s target valuation of $30 billion.</p><p>While Airbnb is not Ackman’s only target, sources it was high on his list and that he relished the idea of working with Chesky on Airbnb&#8217;s bottom line as the company recovers from the pandemic.</p><p>&#8220;Airbnb&#8217;s post-pandemic growth story is perfect for a market that has an insatiable appetite for growth stories,&#8221; mused Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. &#8220;But even in this environment, investors are going to be laser-focused on things like spending, profitability, and governance.&#8221;</p><p><em>Additional reporting by Josh Kosman</em></p>]]></content:encoded>
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