France's Deezer, rival to Spotify, sinks 35% on market debut

The logo of French music streaming platform Deezer is seen before the opening bell ceremony for the company's initial public offering (IPO) at the Euronext stock exchange at La Defense business and financial district in Courbevoie near Paris, France, July 5, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

PARIS (Reuters) -Shares of French music-streaming platform Deezer plunged as much as 35% on its first trading day, in a blow to telecoms maverick Xavier Niel and luxury billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault, who made the company's market debut possible.

Deezer, one of the country's first so-called "unicorns", or tech companies valued more than 1 billion euros, has been struggling to convince on its capacity to take on bigger rivals Spotify and Apple Music.