Cross-border payments company Ebury has enlisted the services of Goldman Sachs to help with its planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) which could take its valuation to £2bn.
Ebury intends to list the IPO on the London Stock Exchange with Goldman Sachs on hand to lend its expertise with a projected launch during the first half of next year, the Financial Times reported.
London was selected for the projected IPO launch after Ebury analysed other multiple markets, which comes as not much of a surprise considering the fintech is based out of the UK’s capital.
This is in despite, however, the UK fintech market taking a hit in funding over recent years due to investor confidence waning following the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing issues surrounding the global economy.
In 2023, total UK fintech investment dropped for the second consecutive year to £9.75bn, which marks a 34% downturn from the £14.82bn invested in the previous year, according to research carried out by KPMG.
The research also showed that 456 M&A deals were secured last year which is down from the 706 made in 2022. Despite this lapse in UK fintech funding, the country still leads the way in Europe, attracting more funding than the likes of France and Germany as the continent’s leading fintech hub.
As the global fintech sector is on the road to recovery, the Financial Times noted that Ebury’s IPO listing next year will have the rest of the industry’s eyes peeled on how well it performs, particularly in the UK as many UK-based companies have left the country to find funding elsewhere.
The report outlined that many fintech companies were or are considering IPO listings or funding rounds but are hesitant due to the ongoing economic uncertainty in a majority of major markets.
Buy Now, Pay Later giant Klarna is reportedly set to list on the New York Stock Exchange, which is of major importance to the Swedish fintech company after seeing its valuation plummet from $45.6bn in 2021, to $6.7bn only a year later.
It is believed that Klarna is in search of US banks to assist with its IPO that will hope to see the company achieve a $20bn valuation.
Ebury was acquired by Santander Bank in 2019 and has since continued to develop several cross-border payment solutions, whilst also securing sponsorship opportunities with football clubs Rangers FC and PSV Eindhoven to enhance its visibility.
In late 2022, Payment Expert spoke to the Global MD of Mass Payments at Ebury, Owain Walters on its work on growing the adoption rate of mass payments.
