As academics fear being priced out of the fossil market, a private company announced that it aims to raise $13.75 million by selling shares in a stegosaurus fossil.
With dinosaur fossils fetching millions of dollars at recent auctions, it was perhaps inevitable: A private company said Friday that it had set the date for a public offering that will allow investors to buy shares in a stegosaurus fossil.
It was the latest sign of the booming market for dinosaur fossils, which has raised concerns from academic paleontologists who fear their institutions are being priced out of the market by private collectors, jeopardizing their access to research specimens.
Now a stegosaurus fossil that is still mostly buried in Wyoming is being transformed into an investment vehicle registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Rally, a company that sells shares in a wide variety of collectibles, said Friday that the stegosaurus would go public on Dec. 20, when 200,000 shares will be offered to investors at $68.75 each. The sale could raise up to $13.75 million, according to an S.E.C. filing. The company describes the sale as an initial public offering, but the shares will only be sold through its app or on its website, not on a stock market.
Shareholders will hope for a payout on the dinosaur, nicknamed Steg, once it is sold privately or auctioned to the highest bidder in about a year, according to the company, which sells shares in alternative assets like designer cars, expensive artwork, baseball cards and a copy of the Declaration of Independence.
“We took a risk,” said Rob Petrozzo, Rally’s co-founder and chief product officer. “We feel there is enough upside for investors to see a return.”