Coming after months of speculation, Klarna now declared that it submitted a draft registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its initial public offering in the US. Potentially valuing Klarna between USD 15 billion to USD 20 billion, the initial public offering could occur after the SEC review and the timing could be influenced by market circumstances. Also, Klarna underlined the price range and number of shares to be provided in the IPO are yet to be determined.
This would indicate a substantial increase from the USD 6.7 billion valuation Klarna accumulated as part of its last fundraising round in 2022. However, it is far less than the USD 45.6 billion the fintech got in a 2021 round. This plunge was associated with a tech collapse triggered by the war in Ukraine and a significant increase in interest rates.
The move comes after Klarna made progress in selecting Goldman Sachs for its IPO in August 2024, with the development coinciding with negotiations the company was conducting regarding a potential sale of existing shares ahead of the IPO. Other banks were set to be included in the underwriting syndicate, with the information being provided by sources who preferred to be anonymous due to the confidential nature of the details. At that time, neither Klarna nor Goldman Sachs commented on the matter.
The first announcement regarding Klarna’s US IPO came in July 2024, when Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs were projected to lead the process. However, no final decisions were made and additional banks could have joined the deal. The IPO was set to occur in the first half of 2025, yet nothing was confirmed when this was made public. In addition, Klarna’s executives and advisers believed that the IPO market was set to recover by 2025, which supported their decision to pursue the listing.
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