Big notes: The piano manufacturer Steinway is aiming for the New York Stock Exchange. But billionaire John Paulson still wants to be in charge. It is not yet known how much the shares will cost.
The piano manufacturer Steinway wants to go public and has submitted an application to the US Exchange Commission posed. This is evident from the submitted prospectus. The Financial Times reported first.
The traditional company has belonged to the investment company Paulson & Co. of billionaire John Paulson since 2013. Proceeds from the IPO are expected to go to selling shareholders, including Paulson himself, who will hold more than half the voting rights following the listing. The issue price of the shares is not yet known.
Steinway will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol STWY. And it’s not the first time: in 1996 the piano manufacturer was listed under LVB – an abbreviation of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven.
China as a growth market
Steinway can look back on successful years. The piano maker grew 30 percent year-on-year in 2021 and posted net sales of $538 million. For comparison: In 2012, the last year before Paulson’s investment, net sales were $354 million.
Steinway also opened additional showrooms during the pandemic and now has 33 showrooms in the United States, Europe and Asia. China is particularly important with the largest piano market with 400,000 instruments sold per year. Steinway sees further growth opportunities here, because the company still only sells half as many instruments there as in the USA. In addition to showrooms, cooperations with celebrities such as the star pianist Lang Lang were also concluded.
Another highlight of recent years: the Steinway Spirio – a grand piano that can play programmed pieces itself. According to the company, this would also address non-musicians as customers. A third of sales come from this division.
Musicians from all over the world play the instruments
The company is already 169 years old and was founded by German immigrant Henry Engelhard in New York. Music greats from classic and pop play on the grand and upright pianos of the company. The prospectus says “Lang Lang und Billy Joel and jazz legends like Ahmad Jamal and McCoy Tyner have consistently chosen Steinway as the desired instrument to express their art”.
The instruments are manufactured in Astoria and Hamburg. Prices are between 60,000 and 340,000 US dollars and construction takes around six months.
