Spotify avoids stock market to raise $1bn debt

Music streaming service Spotify has followed Uber’s lead by choosing to raise $1bn (€880m) in convertible debt, instead of a more traditional round where investors buy shares.

Spotify will now hope its valuation rises from here, just as that of the taxi-hailing app has done since it issued convertibles last year.

Otherwise, the Sweden-based firm will have given private equity firm TPG, hedge fund Dragoneer, and Goldman Sachs clients a sweet deal at the expense of its own founders, venture backers, and employees.