Telecoms billionaire Drahi mulling Sotheby's IPO - report

According to Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman has held preliminary discussions with potential advisors about a US listing. The business - which was founded in 1744 in London - would likely float next year should the IPO go ahead, Bloomberg said.

Neither Sotheby’s nor Drahi have yet commented on the report.

Drahi took Sotheby’s private in 2019 in a deal worth $3.7bn including debt.

The auction house, which competes with Group Artemis-owned Christie’s, has enjoyed a strong year, raising $1.3bn in marquee sales in November alone, Bloomberg noted. It has also been expanding beyond its traditional sources of revenue, from non-fungible tokens to brokering the $1.8m sale of a part of Nike Air Yeezy 1 trainers designed and worn by the rapper Kanye West.

According to the auctioneer, its annual worldwide sales turnover is currently in excess of $4bn.

Industry data published in July showed that auction sales had surged 230% in the first half of 2021, as the sector swiftly recovered from the impact of Covid-19. Specialist research firm Pi-eX found that sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips, the three largest international houses, totalled $5.8bn as at end of June.

Bloomberg's report comes a day after Drahi, the founder and controlling shareholder of European telecoms group Altice, upped his stake in BT Group to 18%.