- OPay priced at the low end. SoftBank Group-backed OPay priced its New York IPO at $19 a share, the bottom of the $19 to $21 range it first guided, valuing the Africa-focused fintech at about $4 billion, according to Bloomberg. It sold 16 million American depositary shares, which by Lumida’s calculation raises about $304 million before fees.
- There is room to upsize. The company granted underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 2.4 million more ADSs to cover over-allotments, with the offering closing on Nov. 2. If fully exercised, the deal would total 18.4 million ADSs, or about $350 million at $19, by Lumida’s calculation.
- It is a scale player in Nigeria. OPay is a dominant player in Nigeria’s fast-growing digital-payments sector, with more than 50 million active users, and its listing makes it one of the largest fintechs to emerge from Africa. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Standard Bank of South Africa are joint book-running managers.
- The deal is a benchmark for exits. The transaction will set a valuation marker for Africa’s venture-backed tech sector and give shareholders including HSG, the China division of Sequoia Capital that split from the firm in 2023, a path to exit.
What Happened?
OPay priced its initial public offering at $19 per ADS, and its shares were set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, Bloomberg reported, citing a company filing. “We have a strong position in Nigeria, and from there we would like to expand into more markets in Africa,” Chief Financial Officer James Perry said in an interview, adding that the listing will help through “both the proceeds, as well as the profile that a listing brings along with it.”
Why It Matters?
Pricing at the bottom of the range shows investors were willing to buy but not to pay up, a cautious signal for the US IPO market as tech stocks sell off on AI spending worries. OPay’s debut adds to a growing pipeline of African fintech listings, after Airtel Money listed on the London Stock Exchange earlier this month. For investors, it offers rare US-listed exposure to Nigerian digital payments, along with currency and emerging-market risks.
What’s Next?
Investors will watch OPay’s first-day trading and whether underwriters exercise the over-allotment option before the Nov. 2 closing. Perry said the company will pick specific expansion countries after the listing, targeting markets with “substantial unmet needs for financial services and large unserved populations.” A strong debut could encourage other Nigerian-born fintechs, such as Flutterwave, PalmPay and Moniepoint, to consider public listings.
Affected Tickers and Coins: OPAY, SFTBY, C, DB
Source: Bloomberg
