Klarna eyes up London for upcoming IPO

There’s no doubt that a lot of people will be excited about the prospect of a Klarna listing on the London Stock Exchange, but it appears it’s not the only destination on the fintech’s mind.

In an interview with BloombergSebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and founder of Klarna, said that Brexit could create an “amazing opportunity” for London to solidify itself as a world fintech leader.

A spokesperson for the buy-now-pay-later giant said: “In deciding where to list, we are considering a range of factors including the investment culture and appetite for taking a long-term view, the potential for a fair valuation, and the strength of support for the fintech sector which of course is very strong in the UK."

The fintech’s listing is still a while away too, with plans to list still at least one to two years down the line.

While the UK remains a very viable option for the fintech, the spokesperson emphasised that nothing has been set in stone yet and there are still other options on the table.

The BNPL fintech has amassed over 90m users worldwide, with more than 14m of those being from here in the UK, meaning that London would be an attractive option for Klarna.

This news will also surely be music to the government’s ears after a recent push to bring the London Stock Exchange more on par with its American rivals, the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ.

In February, the Kalifa Review, an independent review into the UK’s fintech sector was published, called for free float requirements to be reduced and a dual share structure to be introduced, among other recommendations. 

Alongside the Kalifa Review, the Hill Review, which looked into the UK’s listing structure, was also released.

Lord Hill also pushed for dual-class share structures and lowering free-float requirements to help bring the LSE more in line with its US counterparts and encourage more companies to list here in the UK.

Klarna would join an ever-growing list of fintechs to eye up the London Stock Exchange for its stock market debut.

Fintechs looking at a London listing include cross-border payments fintech Wise, which has reportedly appointed Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to help guide it through an IPO and will opt for a dual-class share structure to keep the control of the company in the hands of its founders and early investors.

Both Klarna and Wise will be following in the footsteps of the likes of Funding Circle,Augmentum Fintech and PensionBee, which debuted on the LSE last month at a £365m valuation.