Blackstone-backed Liftoff valued at $4.18bn in Nasdaq debut
Blackstone won a fresh public-market marker for one of its adtech holdings. Liftoff Mobile's shares rose about 9% in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday, valuing the company at $4.18bn, Reuters reported.
The listing also added to a run of private equity-backed flotations benefiting from renewed demand for new stocks. Intraday, the move ran stronger still.
Shares traded at $27.86 against the $23 offer price, up around 21% at one point in New York, Bloomberg reported.
The listing priced above its marketed range. Liftoff raised $437m after selling 19m shares at $23 each, having guided investors towards a $20 to $22 band. The group also granted underwriters a 30-day option over a further 2.85m shares to cover over-allotments, with the offering due to close on 5 June. Liftoff intends to use the net proceeds to repay borrowings under its senior secured term loan facility and for general corporate purposes.
Blackstone created Liftoff in 2021 when it merged its portfolio companies Liftoff and Vungle, installing new leadership and building a single mobile adtech platform. Blackstone will remain the majority shareholder following the offering, according to the S-1 filing. A second sponsor sits alongside it. Last year Liftoff disclosed a minority investment from growth equity firm General Atlantic at a $4.3bn valuation, and funds affiliated with General Atlantic were allocated roughly 1.3m shares in the offering.
On the syndicate, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and Morgan Stanley acted as joint lead book-running managers.
The debut lands as sponsors push to return cash to limited partners after a prolonged slowdown in exits. Private equity firms are expected to step up activity in 2026, as exits remain slow and holding periods extend, creating pressure to return more capital to investors. The flotation also gives Blackstone a public valuation after it had previously weighed a sale, having explored a deal that could value the business at $4bn or more. The balance sheet remains a consideration, with the group carrying more than $1.85bn in debt at the time of filing.
Chief executive Jeremy Bondy framed the pitch to incoming shareholders around the company’s reach across the app economy. “Our mission is to ensure a developer in Istanbul and a Fortune 500 company in New York can both compete on what they build, not their ability to navigate millions of disconnected apps,” he said in a statement.