Fintech Ebury taps Goldman for £2bn UK IPO

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Payments group Ebury has appointed investment bankers from Goldman Sachs to lead work on its planned £2bn initial public offering in London, as the fintech moves ahead with one of the rare listings planned for the UK.

Goldman is among the banks set to lead the IPO, which could happen as early as the first half of next year, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ebury, owned by the Spanish bank Santandercould be valued at around £2bn, they added.

The fintech chose London after exploring several other options, in a rare gesture of confidence for UK capital markets, which have suffered from a shortage of listings.

An Ebury listing would be closely watched by the rest of the fintech sectorMany companies have signaled their ambition to go public, but volatile market conditions and high interest rates have discouraged investors.

Last year’s IPO of fintech rival CAB Payments was seen as a disaster that further spooked investors. The company has experienced sharp drops in valuation as its shares plunged more than 70 percent just three months after a disappointing IPO.

Ebury’s listing will also be seen as a test for London’s capital markets, which have they tried to increase their appeal renewing the listing rules.

The London Stock Exchange has been hit by a series of high-profile departures, as companies seek to achieve higher valuations abroad and relatively cheap UK-listed groups become attractive takeover targets.

Meanwhile, some larger fintechs, such as the Swedish “buy now, pay later” Clarifyare preparing for listing in New York.

Ebury offers services including cross-border payments, payroll transfers, currency risk management and business lending. It was founded in 2009 by Spanish engineers Juan Lobato and Salvador García.

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It posted £16m of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and £204m of revenue in the year to April 2023.

Other London-based fintechs that have indicated they are likely to list their shares publicly in the coming years include Zopa, Revolut, Starling and Zilch. The last successful listing for the sector was the direct listing of cross-border payments group Wise in 2021, which was hailed as a resounding success for the sector.

Goldman and a representative for Ebury declined to comment.

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