Swedish FinTech Trustly has shelved its $950m IPO plans following a review by regulators which raised issues over its due diligence procedures.
The IPO, which was slated for this quarter, is no longer going ahead after the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) found issues with the way the payments startup screens customers. Last month, Trustly said that it needed time to examine the FSA’s assessment.
Now, Trustly chairman Johan Tjärnberg said the firm’s board still “remain convinced” that an IPO is the way to go ahead and that the “ambition to list the company remains.” “However, we have a responsibility to all stakeholders to bring clarity and resolve any outstanding questions from the Swedish FSA’s preliminary assessment,” he said. “Therefore, the Board of Directors has decided not to pursue the plan for a listing in the second quarter. There is today no time plan set for when the IPO will be completed.”
Tjärnberg added that the IPO won’t happen in the second quarter and as of yet, it has no timeline to move forward with a public listing. If gone ahead, the IPO would have valued the company at $11bn.
Founded in 2008, Trustly provides its own network that facilitates payments directly from customers’ bank accounts and works as an alternative to buy-now, pay-later companies such as Klarna. It claims its fees are lower than FinTech companies that use card networks because it cuts out the middlemen.
The Swedish payments platform which has been backed by Nordic Capital, Alfven & Didrikson and BlackRock saw a rise in customers as more people sought contactless ways to shop and pay bills. With revenue up almost 300% at the end of 2020, Trustly processed $21bn in transactions last year.
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