In a rare win for London’s capital markets, the cross-border payments platform Ebury has reportedly appointed Goldman Sachs to lead its IPO in London.
According to the FT, the Santander-backed payments platform has started lining up investment banks ahead of a potential IPO, which could take place as soon as the first quarter of 2025.
The fintech firm is part of Santander’s Pagonxt payments platform. The Spanish banking group struck a £350m deal for a 50.1 per cent majority stake in the firm in November 2019. It later increased its stake to 54 per cent.
Founded in 2009, Ebury specialises in managing international payments and collections for businesses and offers foreign exchange, trade finance, and cash management services.
Ebury’s flotation will be seen as a test of London’s ability to attract fintechs after regulators revamped listing rules earlier this month.
The last big payments firm to list in the UK was CAB Payments last year. It is currently trading 64 per cent below its initial share price after a series of scandals.
Other London-based fintechs that have indicated an intention to float in coming years include Zopa, Revolut, Starling, and Zilch, though some, such as ‘buy now pay later’ Klarna, have looked to New York instead.
Companies House filings show Ebury posted revenue of £204m in the 12 months to 30 April 2023 on a transactions volume of £26bn.
Ebury’s founder and chief executive Juan Lobato said alongside the company’s latest results filing in November that it was exploring a public listing as part of its “big ambitions.”
The group has also ramped up acquisition activity over the last couple of years. It bought Brazil’s Bexs in May 2022 as Trans Skill Investments in the Middle East, and Prime Financial Markets in Africa late last year.