The payment service provider Wise achieved a high valuation of a good 8.3 billion pounds (9.7 billion euros) on its first trading day in London - more than twice as much as in a financing round a year ago.
The direct placement was the largest public offering by a fintech on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
On the first day of trading on Wednesday, the stock was traded at up to 847 pence.
In a financing round a year ago, investors valued the payment service provider founded in 2011 at $ 5 billion (€ 4.2 billion).
The company was listed on the stock exchange without a price range - in other words, “flying blind”, so to speak. The LSE auctioned shares in an auction among large investors on Wednesday morning. This resulted in the first quotations at 750 to 800 pence. After that, the share rose. The IPO was also an important test of London as a location for emerging tech companies.
Wise, founded by Estonians Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus, has acquired more than 10 million customers who transfer more than 5 billion pounds a month. Initially, TransferWise only offered foreign currency transfers, promising low fees and favorable exchange rates. In the meantime, Wise is also active with multi-currency accounts and currency exchange for customers of other (Internet) banks. The company has been making a profit for four years. It employs 2400 people. Early investors include the German-American tech billionaire Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and the British fund Baillie Gifford. You all made a big profit. The 40-year-old founder Käärmann, who holds around 20 percent of the company,now has assets well over a billion pounds.