Airbnb on Tuesday disclosed it could raise as much as $2.5bn in its initial public offering, as it moves ahead with plans to list before Christmas, joining a crowded group of newcomers taking advantage of the record high in US stock markets.

The home-rentals business set the price range of its float at between $44 and $50 per share. Airbnb said it would sell as many as 55m shares, including a so-called “greenshoe” option to sell 5m more shares that could yield an additional $250m, taking its total proceeds before costs to $2.75bn. Existing investors will sell roughly 1.9m shares in the IPO.

At the top of the price range, the company would have a market value of $29.8bn, a feat considering its operations were moribund for part of this year after the pandemic and governments travel restrictions cut into its business, causing a collapse of bookings on its platform.